The Miss Iowa competition is the official preliminary for the state of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in the

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 ...

Scholarship Competition. Lydia Fisher of Wapello was crowned Miss Iowa 2025 on June 14, 2024, at the Davenport Central High School in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

. She will compete for the title of

2026. No contestant from Iowa has ever won the national Miss America title although two Miss Iowa Titleholders have been named first runner-up. Cheryl Browne, Miss Iowa 1970, competed in the

Miss America 1971 Miss America 1971, the 44th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 12, 1970. The Women's liberation movement, Women's Liberation Front demonstrated at the event and Miss Iowa 1970, Cheryl ...

pageant as the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

contestant.Photographs by Paul Cauley, 1971 Door Gunner, A Co 101st Avn
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Gallery of past titleholders

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Results summary

The following is a visual summary of the past results of Miss Iowa titleholders at the national Miss America pageants/competitions. The year in parentheses indicates the year of the national competition during which a placement and/or award was garnered, not the year attached to the contestant's state title.

Placements

* 1st runners-up: Joanne MacDonald (1959), Catherine Lemkau (1993) * 2nd runners-up: Susan Thompson (1969), Olivia Myers (2009) * 3rd runners-up: Lisa Somodi (1992) * 4th runners-up: Mariah Cary (2013) * Top 10: Lynda Jeanne Formanek (1968), Renee Stuedemann (1973), Lori Froeling (1980), Kerri Rosenberg (1991), Diana Reed (2008), Jessica Pray (2012), Kelly Koch (2017) * Top 12: Aly Olson (2015), Taylor Wiebers (2016)

Awards

Preliminary awards

* Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness: Susan Thompson (1969), Catherine Lemkau (1993) (tie), Taylor Wiebers (2016) * Preliminary Talent: Lisa Somodi (1992), Catherine Lemkau (1993), Diana Reed (2008), Taylor Wiebers (2016) * Preliminary Social Impact Pitch: Bailey Hodson (2023)

Non-finalist awards

* Non-finalist Talent: Martha Barsness (1957), Joleen Wolf (1963), Carolyn Northway (1964), Marie Mushro (1966), Lois Koth (1970), Cheryl Browne (1971), Jean Bollhoefer (1975), Darla Blocker (1982), Linda Simon (1983), Robin Wolfram (1987), Jayna Sanchez (1990), Lisa Dondlinger (1999), Jennifer Caudle (2000), Carolyn Nicholas (2005), Anne Langguth (2010), Chelsea Dubczak (2018) * Non-finalist Interview: Pauli Mayfield (2011)

Other awards

* Miss Congeniality: Marie Mushro (1966) * Miss America Scholar Award: Erin Smith (2002) * Quality of Life Award 1st runners-up: Theresa Uchytil (2001) * Quality of Life Award 2nd runners-up: Nancy Van Meter (1994) * Quality of Life Award Finalists: Anne Langguth (2010)

Winners

;Notes

References

External links

*
List of Miss Iowa winners
{{Miss America state Iowa culture

Women in Iowa Annual events in Iowa