The Miss Minnesota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss USA pageant.
Despite a strong start in the first three years of competition at Miss USA, Minnesota has been only mildly successful overall. In more recent years, Minnesota has twice received recognition with the Miss Photogenic award.
Barbara Elaine Peterson was the first Miss Minnesota-USA to be crowned Miss USA (in 1976), and was also the first Miss USA to not place in the Miss Universe pageant. Her sister, Polly Peterson Bowles, was Miss Minnesota-USA 1981.
History
The Miss Minnesota-USA pageant was first held in 1952. That year's winner was Jodell Stirmlinger. Her win was followed by Mary Ann Papke in 1953 and Dawn Joyce in 1954. All three placed in the top 20 or better at the Miss USA contest. Minnesota would not see another contestant place at Miss USA until 1976 when Barbara Elaine Peterson became the state's first (and to date only) Miss USA winner. She did not place at the Miss Universe 1976 held in Hong Kong.
Miss Minnesota-USA was not held from 1960â€"64. The following year Miss Minnesota-USA winner Elizabeth Jane Carroll won the Miss Congeniality award at the Miss USA pageant.
Peterson's 1976 success was followed by Deborah Cossette, who was the second runner up at Miss USA. Barbara Peterson's sister, Polly Peterson, won the 1981 Miss Minnesota-USA title. She was also the second runner up at the 1976 Miss Teenage America pageant, but didn't place at Miss USA 1981.
In November 1987, Sue Bolich won the 1988 Miss Minnesota-USA title. Bolich reigned from November 1987 to February 1988, when she resigned after being arrested for shoplifting. First runner-up Jolene Stavrakis resigned days later after she revealed she had pleaded guilty to shoplifting in 1986. Second runner-up Julie Nelson was crowned less than a month before the Miss USA pageant in February 1988.
In 1989, Julie Knutson won the Miss Minnesota-USA title after being a semifinalist in both 1987 and 1988. In 1990, Janet Tveita became the second Miss Minnesota-USA winner to win a special award at Miss USA, taking Miss Congeniality. April Herke, who had been the fourth runner-up in Miss Oktoberfest 1990, won the 1991 crown. The 1992 winner, Amber Rue, completed her reign amid publicity about a "public lovers' quarrel involving allegations of coerced sex, extortion, fraud, and defamation of character".
Stavrakis returned in 1994 to reclaim the state title, in what was her last year of eligibility, after having her criminal record expunged. She placed 10th in the 1994 Miss USA pageant. Her successor, Angelique de Maison, placed 5th at Miss USA 1995.
The 1996 winner, Karin Smith, would later appear on ABC's The Bachelor. After winning the 1997 state pageant, Melissa Hall would go on to win Mrs. Minnesota and place in the Top 10 of Mrs. America in 2004 under her married name, Melissa Young.
The 2000 Miss Minnesota USA winner, Paige Swenson, was previously Miss Minnesota Teen USA 1994, placing 13th at Nationals. She won the Miss Photogenic award at the Miss USA contest. Her successor, Anne Marie Clausen, would go on to win Mrs. Minnesota United States 2011, and place in the Top 10 at nationals under the name Anne Marie Moore.
Miss Minnesota-USA 2002, Lanore Van Buren, was the 3rd runner up at Nationals. Her successor, Sarah Cahill, was previously named Miss Minnesota Teen-USA in 1996. The 2005 title was held in Bloomington and won by Carrie Lee. It was her fourth attempt at the title as she had placed third runner-up to Cahill in 2003, was second runner-up in 2002 and made the semi-finals in 2001. She was the first woman from Sebeka to win the Miss Minnesota-USA title.
The 2006 pageant was won by Dottie Cannon, who was the second runner-up the previous year. As Miss Minnesota-USA, she was a representative of Future Productions. She failed to place in the nationally contest, but won the Miss Congeniality award. Alla Ilushka became the third former Miss Minnesota Teen-USA (winning in 2002) to win Miss Minnesota-USA in 2007. She had placed in the Top 10 of Miss Teen-USA, but did not place at Miss USA.
Erica Nego, who won the 2009 title, placed 12th at Nationals. Two years later, she won Miss Universe Ghana. The 2012 Miss Minnesota-USA, Nitaya Panemalaythong, also had an international flair having been born in Thailand.
The 2014 Miss Minnesota-USA winner, Haley O'Brien, had previously won Miss Minnesota Teen-USA in 2010 and Miss Collegiate America in 2012.
In 2016, Halima Aden became the first contestant to compete wearing a burkini, and the first to wear a hijab the entire time.
Results summary
Placements
- Miss USA: Barbara Peterson (1976)
- Second runners-up: Deborah Cossette (1977), Meridith Gould (2017)
- Third runner-up: Lanore Van Buren (2002)
- Fourth runners-up: Kari Lee Johnson (1985)
- Top 6: Angelique de Maison (1995)
- Top 10: Jodell Stirmlinger (1952)
- Top 12: Carla Reid Peterson (1980), Jolene Stavrakis (1994)
- Top 15: Kaylee Unverzagt (2008), Erica Nego (2009)
- Top 19/20: Mary Ann Papke (1953), Dawn Joyce (1954), Haley O'Brien (2014)
Awards
- Miss Congeniality: Elizabeth Jane Carroll (1965), Janet Tveita (1990), Dottie Cannon (2006)
- Miss Photogenic: Paige Swenson (2000), Sarah Cahill (2003)
Winner results
- Color key
1 Age at the time of the Miss USA pageant
2 Contestant resigned title before the Miss USA pageant
References
External links
- Official Website
- Miss Minnesota-USA 2009 Official Website