Chelsea Jean Malone (born April 8, 1992) is an American

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

titleholder from

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Monongahela River in North Central West Virginia and is the home of West Virginia University. The population was 30,347 at the 2 ...

, who was crowned Miss West Virginia 2015. She competed for the

Miss America 2016 Miss America 2016 was the 89th Miss America pageant, held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on September 13, 2015. Kira Kazantsev of New York crowned Betty Cantrell of Georgia as her successor at the end of the event. Accordi ...

title in September 2015 and placed in the Top 15.

Pageant career

Early contests

Malone began singing publicly at age 9 and started regularly performing "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

" before

West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball The West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represents West Virginia University in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I college basketball competition. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. WV ...

games when she was 12. While a student at

Morgantown High School Morgantown High School is a public high school in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. It is one of three secondary schools in the Monongalia County School District. Athletic teams compete as the Morgantown Mohigans in the West Virginia Seco ...

, she won the West Virginia Idol competition in 2008 which earned her an audition for ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

''. As a student at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

, Malone won the Mountaineer Idol 2011 title. In July 2013, she won Jacktown Fair Idol in

Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania Wind Ridge is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Richhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along Pennsylvania Route 21, west of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, Wayn ...

, taking home $1,000 in cash plus 15 hours of studio recording time.

Early pageants

In February 2013, Malone won the Miss Capital City 2013 title. She competed in the 2013 Miss West Virginia pageant on a platform of "Mental Health Advocacy at its CORE: Community Outreach, Research, and Education" and performed a vocal in the talent portion of the competition. She was named was third runner-up for the state title. On August 3, 2013, Malone won the Miss Northern West Virginia 2014 title. She competed in the 2014 Miss West Virginia pageant on a platform of "Mental Health Advocacy at the CORE: Community Outreach, Research, and Education" and performed a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

vocal in the talent portion of the competition.

Miss West Virginia 2015

On July 26, 2014, Malone was crowned Miss Wheeling 2015. She was one of 21 women who qualified to compete in the 2015 Miss West Virginia pageant at the Metropolitan Theatre in Morgantown. Malone's competition talent was a vocal performance. Her platform is "Mental Health Advocacy at the CORE: Community Outreach, Research, and Education". Malone won the competition on Wednesday, July 1, 2015, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss West Virginia titleholder Paige Madden. She earned several thousand dollars in scholarship money and prizes from the state pageant. As Miss West Virginia, her activities include public appearances across the state of West Virginia.

Vying for Miss America 2016

Malone was West Virginia's representative at the

pageant in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

, in September 2015. In the televised finale on September 13, 2015, she placed in the Top 15 as a semi-finalist but was eliminated after the swimsuit competition. Malone was awarded a $4,000 scholarship prize.

Early life and education

Malone is a native of

. She is a 2010 graduate of

. Malone is a graduate of

with a bachelor's degree in finance. While a student at WVU, Malone became a member of the

Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a national Mixed-sex education, coeducational Service fraternities and sororities, service Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It is the largest College fraterniti ...

national

co-ed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

service fraternity Service fraternity or service sorority may refer to any Fraternal and Service Organizations, fraternal public service organization, whether college or community-based. However, in Canada and the United States, the term "fraternity" is typically u ...

References

External links

Miss West Virginia official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malone, Chelsea Living people 1992 births American beauty pageant winners Miss America 2016 delegates Morgantown High School alumni People from Morgantown, West Virginia West Virginia University alumni Beauty pageant contestants from West Virginia