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

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

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, and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,434. making it the ninth-most populated city in Kansas. It is bordered by the ...

. 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 pageant titleholder. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and com ...

, who placed as 1st runner-up to

Jennifer Hawkins Jennifer Hawkins-Wall (née Hawkins; born 22 December 1983) is an Australian TV host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2004. She had previously been crowned Miss Universe Australia 2004. She was the host of '' Australia's ...

of Australia in the

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

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 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

, including Finnessey. Nine former Miss Teen USA delegates have also won the title one as former Miss Illinois Teen USA, 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. Shae Smith of Bolivar was crowned Miss Missouri USA 2025 on May 11, 2025 at The Mansion Theater in Branson. She will represent Missouri at Miss USA 2025.

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 Kodak 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. The judges were ...

File:AmberSeyer.jpg, Amber Seyer, 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), Amber Seyer (2007), Candice Crawford (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 Recurring events established in 1952 Women in Missouri 1952 establishments in Missouri