State Name Hometown Age Talent Placement Awards Notes Alabama Paige Phillips Leeds 17 Vocal/Ventriloquism to "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" by Al Jolson 1st runner-up Preliminary Talent Alaska Sandra Lashbrook Eagle River Arizona Brenda Strong Tempe Actress in Desperate Housewives Arkansas Lencola Sullivan Morrilton 21 Vocal, "St. Louis Blues", composed by W.C. Handy 4th runner-up Preliminary Swimsuit First African-American contestant to place as a runner-up at Miss America [ citation needed ] California Robin Brooks Elverta Colorado Kimberly Christiansen Arvada Non-finalist Talent Connecticut Jeanne Caruso Trumbull 21 Vocal/piano, Original song, "A Song for Tomorrow" Top 10 divorced Joe Theismann Delaware Andra Lee Dickerson Newark Florida Caroline Dungan Bradenton Georgia Lynn Smith Savannah Hawaii Kanoelehua Cook Aiea Idaho Leslie Taylor Burley Illinois Blythe Sawyer Naperville Non-finalist Talent Indiana Teri Kardatzke Anderson Iowa Jane Patton Council Bluffs Kansas K. Leann Folsom Wichita Kentucky Daphne Cochran Louisville Louisiana Martha "Missy" Crews Baton Rouge Maine Valerie Crooker Brunswick Miss Maine USA 1979 Maryland Lisa Marie Daskal Cumberland Non-finalist Talent Massachusetts Amy Linder Lowell Non-finalist Talent Michigan Heidi Hepler Livonia Minnesota Debra Goodwin Austin Preliminary Swimsuit, Non-finalist Talent Mississippi Donna Pope McNeil 24 Ballet on pointe to Overture from "Oklahoma!" 2nd runner-up (tie) Preliminary Swimsuit Missouri Carla LaFevre Harrisonville Montana Lilly Cruise Miles City Non-finalist Talent Nebraska Paula Louise Mitchell Norfolk Non-finalist Talent Nevada Phyllis Hamlin Reno New Hampshire Diane McGarry Manchester New Jersey Therese Hanley Jersey City "Starting Here, Starting Now" by Barbra Streisand 2nd runner-up (tie) New Mexico Teresa Elizabeth Anderson Hobbs New York Cheryl Flanagan Rochester 18 Tap dance to Overture from "That's Entertainment, Part II" Top 10 Preliminary Talent North Carolina Janet Black Kannapolis Non-finalist Talent Top 5 at Maid of Cotton 1980 North Dakota Karen Moe Minot Ohio Kathy Vernon Youngstown 24 Vocal, "I Have Dreamed" from The King and I Top 10 Oklahoma Susan Powell Elk City 21 Operatic vocal, "Lucy's Aria" from Gian Carlo Menotti's opera "The Telephone" Miss America 1981 Preliminary Talent (tie) Oregon Teresa Richardson Forest Grove Non-finalist Talent Pennsylvania Anita Ellen Patton Lebanon Rhode Island Dawn Potter Pascoag South Carolina Donna Jewell Columbia South Dakota Carol Barnett Sioux Falls Tennessee Sarah Leonard Jonesborough Texas Terri Eoff Lubbock 19 Dramatic Monologue from "A Bad Play for an Old Lady" by Elizabeth Lovett Top 10 Utah Jean Bullard Provo Vermont Carole Spolar St. Albans Non-finalist Talent Virginia Holly Jereme Roanoke Washington Doris Hayes Tacoma 20 Vocal, "Our Love Is Here to Stay" by George Gershwin Top 10 Preliminary Talent (tie) First African-American preliminary winner[ citation needed ] West Virginia Pamela Ellen Paugh Charleston Aunt of JonBenét Ramsey , Sister of Miss West Virginia 1977 Wisconsin Dana Spychalla Appleton Wyoming Susan Pennington Casper 
