Sarah Rose Summers Combs is an American beauty pageant titleholder who won

Miss USA 2018 Miss USA 2018 was the 67th Miss USA pageant. It was held on May 21, 2018 at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. The pageant was held at the same venue that was used for Miss USA 1997. Kára McCullough of Washington, D.C., Dis ...

. As Miss USA, she represented the United States at Miss Universe 2018, where she reached in the Top 20. Previously, Summers won Miss Nebraska USA 2018 and went on to become the first woman from Nebraska to win the Miss USA title.

Early life and education

Summers was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, and grew up in Papillion in the

Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area The Omaha metropolitan area, officially known as the Omaha, NE–IA, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), is an urbanized, bi-state metro region in Nebraska and Iowa in the American Midwest, centered on the city of Omaha, Nebraska. The region con ...

. At four years old, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with

idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), also known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or immune thrombocytopenia, is an Autoimmunity, autoimmune primary disorder of hemostasis characterized by a low platelet count in the absence of other cause ...

(ITP). She graduated from Papillion-La Vista South High School, in 2013 and later earned two degrees ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

in 2017

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. It is—particularly from birth to five years— a foundation ...

and

strategic communication Strategic communication is the purposeful use of communication by an organization to reach a specific goal. Organizations like governments, corporations, Non-governmental organization, NGOs and Military, militaries seeking to communicate a concep ...

, with a minor in business. While a student, she also joined the

Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its international office is located in Carmel, Indiana. It ...

sorority. Summers worked as a certified child life specialist prior to becoming Miss USA.

Career

2004–2019: Pageantry

Summers began her pageantry career at age ten, having convinced her parents to allow her to compete in pageants when they received a postcard advertisement for a local

child beauty pageant A child beauty pageant is a controversial beauty pageant, beauty contest featuring contestants under 18 years of age. Competition categories may include Aptitude, talent, interview, Sportswear (activewear), sportswear, casual wear, swimwear, west ...

. After four years of competing, she won the title of National American Miss Nebraska Junior Teen 2009 and represented Nebraska at the national pageant and was crowned the 2009–2010 National American Miss Junior Teen. In 2012, Summers was crowned Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2012. She represented Nebraska at Miss Teen USA 2012 at Atlantis Paradise Island in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

, but was unplaced. At the end of her reign, she crowned Jasmine Fuelberth as her successor. After a hiatus, Summers returned to pageantry and competed in Miss Nebraska USA 2016. In 2018, Summers was crowned Miss Nebraska USA 2018 by Fuelberth, who was the outgoing titleholder. At Miss Nebraska USA 2018, Summers represented Omaha. After winning Miss Nebraska USA, Summers earned the right to represent Nebraska at

, held at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. She won the competition, beating out first runner-up Caelynn Miller-Keyes of North Carolina and second runner-up Carolina Urrea of Nevada, becoming the first woman from Nebraska to win Miss USA. After winning Miss USA, she crowned Bree Coffey as her Miss Nebraska USA successor; pageant protocol states that the two titles cannot be held coterminously as her new Miss USA duties would have interfered with her duties as Miss Nebraska USA. On September 7, 2019, took part in

Sherri Hill Sherri Hill (born Sherri Branum; 1949) is an American fashion designer and businesswoman who specializes in formal evening wear. Early years Sherri Branum, known professionally as Sherri Hill, is one of five children born to James and Rob ...

's fashion show in

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

. As Miss USA 2018, Summers represented the United States at Miss Universe 2018 in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand, where she reached the top 20. Her national costume was based on a red rose, the national flower of the United States and Summers's middle name. Summers faced controversy and backlash for comments she made about the English language abilities of Miss Universe contestants, Miss Vietnam, and Miss Cambodia. The comments were criticized as xenophobic and condescending. Summers apologized for the comments, acknowledging they could be perceived as disrespectful. The winner was

Catriona Gray Catriona Elisa Magnayon Gray ( ; ; born January 6, 1994) is a Filipino beauty queen and media personality best known for winning the title of Miss Universe 2018. The fourth Filipina to win Miss Universe, Gray was previously crowned Miss Worl ...

of the Philippines. Summers ended her reign on May 2, 2019, after crowning Cheslie Kryst as

Miss USA 2019 Miss USA 2019 was the 68th Miss USA pageant, held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada on May 2, 2019. The 2019 competition served as the second consecutive time that the pageant has been held concurrently with the Miss Teen USA competi ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

2020–present: Current projects

She hosted a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

called ''More Than A Crown'' from 2019 to 2021.

Personal life

Summers became engaged to longtime boyfriend Conner Combs in Bangkok on December 17, 2018, shortly after competing at Miss Universe 2018. They married on October 20, 2019, in Anthem, Arizona, and have one child.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Sarah Rose 1994 births American beauty pageant winners Living people Miss Nebraska USA winners Miss Universe 2018 contestants Miss USA 2018 delegates Miss USA winners 21st-century Miss Teen USA delegates Texas Christian University alumni People from Omaha, Nebraska People from Papillion, Nebraska