The Miss Missouri USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

in the

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates, based in

Lenexa, Kansas Lenexa is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is one of four principal cities of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area and 9th most populated city of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,434. It is ...

. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of state pageants for the Miss USA and Teen USA system. Missouri has had only one Miss USA,

Shandi Finnessey Shandi Ren Finnessey (born June 9, 1978) is an American actress, model, TV host and beauty queen. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss A ...

, who placed as 1st runner-up to

Jennifer Hawkins Jennifer Hawkins (born 22 December 1983) is an Australian model, television presenter and beauty queen best known for being crowned Miss Universe Australia and later the same year Miss Universe 2004. She was the host of '' Australia's Next T ...

of Australia in the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall St ...

2004 pageant. The most recent placement was Mikala McGhee in 2022, placing Top 16. Three Miss Missouri USAs have competed at

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

, including Finnessey. Six former Miss Teen USA delegates have also won the title, equalling Indiana and Virginia for the most crossovers, although both Indiana and Missouri have had titleholders who competed in a different state at Miss Teen USA. Mikala McGhee of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

was crowned Miss Missouri USA 2022 on May 1, 2022 at The Mansion Theatre for the Performing Arts in

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postm ...

. She represented Missouri for the title of

Miss USA 2022 Miss USA 2022 was the 71st Miss USA pageant. The competition was held on October 3, 2022 at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada and was broadcast on the FYI cable channel. The competition was hosted by Zuri Hall for the second consecutive ...

, placed at the top 16.

Gallery of titleholders

File:Larissa Meek cropped.jpg,

Larissa Meek Larissa Meek is a former beauty queen who has competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants and a reality television personality who starred in '' Average Joe: Hawaii''. Pageants In 1996 Meek won the Miss Missouri Teen USA 1997 title and c ...

, Miss Missouri USA 2001 File:Shandi Finnessey.jpg,

Miss Missouri USA and

Miss USA 2004 Miss USA 2004 was the 53rd Miss USA pageant, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 12, 2004. The winner of the beauty pageant was Shandi Finnessey, who became the first winner from the state of Missouri. Finnessey was crow ...

File:AmberSeyer.jpg,

Amber Seyer The Miss Missouri USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Missouri in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates, based in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of st ...

, Miss Missouri USA 2007 File:Candice Crawford parade.jpg, Candice Crawford, Miss Missouri USA 2008 File:Missmissouriusa.jpg, Katie Kearney, Miss Missouri USA 2012

Results summary

Placements

*Miss USA's:

(2004) *2nd runners-up: Carolyn Carlew (1952), Sandra Lee Marlin (1963), Melanie Breedlove (1998) *3rd runners-up: Nancy Rebecca Rich (1971), Sandra Percival (1984), Dawn Fonseca (1987) *4th runners-up: Karen Hendrix (1967) *Top 5: Larissa Meek, (2001) *Top 10/12: Dorothy Ann McElven (1974), Nancy LaRose (1975), Donna Hibbitts (1976), Amy Ruth Coverdale (1985), Shelly Lehman (1994), Britt Powell (1995),

(2007),

Candice Crawford The Miss Missouri USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Missouri in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates, based in Lenexa, Kansas. In 1993, Missouri joined the Vanbros group of st ...

(2008), Ashley Strohmier (2010), Sydnee Stottlemyre (2016), Bayleigh Dayton (2017) *Top 15/16/20: Alice Jean Porritt (1954), Barbara Jayne Stell (1959), Marilyn Jean Stalcup (1960), Hope Driskill (2011), Megan Renee Kelly (2020), Mikala McGhee (2022) Missouri holds a record of 26 placements at

Awards

*Miss Congeniality: Bayleigh Dayton (2017)

Winners

;Color key

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miss Missouri Usa

Missouri culture