| Formation | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters | Shawnee |
| Location | |
| Membership | Miss Teen USA |
Official language | English |
Key people | John M. Vannatta Jason Vannatta Jennifer Vannatta-Fisher, State Pageant Director |
| Website | Official website |
The Miss Illinois Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Illinois in the Miss Teen USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates and is previously directed by D&D Productions from 2001 to 2014 before becoming part of Vanbros organization in 2014, headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas.
Illinois is in the top fifteen states in terms of number and value of placements over the twenty-three years of the Miss Teen USA competition. [1] Illinois ties with Florida and North Carolina for the most Miss Photogenic awards won at Miss Teen USA (3) and has won more awards than any other state. [2] Like the Miss USA Pageant, Illinois went on to win the Miss Teen USA title in the second edition of the pageant.
Nine Illinois teens have competed at Miss USA, five as Miss Illinois USA title. The first was Cherise Haugen, Illinois' only Miss Teen USA, who competed as Miss Teen USA at the 1985 pageant (the first few Miss Teen USAs were given this opportunity). Later three more would compete at the Miss USA pageant, two representing Vanbros states: Terri Bollinger represented Missouri in 1999 and Anne-Marie Dixon Oklahoma in 1998 and Lacey Wilson Massachusetts in 2010. Vanbros is a pageant production company that owns the Miss Teen USA franchises for, and produces and directs, several state pageants in the Midwest. The Miss Illinois Teen USA Pageant has been the single largest official state preliminary competition with over 150 contestants every year since at least 2002 and has always ranked among the top ten largest state preliminary pageants. [ citation needed ]
Sophia Xia of Chicago was crowned Miss Illinois Teen USA 2025 on May 25, 2025, at Braden Auditorium in Normal. She will represent Illinois for the title of Miss Teen USA 2025.
Illinois holds a record of 15 placements at Miss Teen USA.
| Year | Name | Hometown | Age1 | Local title | Placement at Miss Teen USA | Special awards at Miss Teen USA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sophia Xia | Chicago | TBA | Miss Lake County Teen | TBA | TBA | |
| 2024 | Arianna Thompson | Mahomet | TBA | Miss Central Illinois Teen | Top 10 | ||
| 2023 | Vivica Lewandowski | Chicago | 18 | Miss Gold Coast Teen | Top 20 | ||
| 2022 | Dawn Parks | Chicago | 18 | Miss Cook County Teen | |||
| 2021 | Gissell Bahena | Chicago | 17 | Miss Chicago Midwest Teen | |||
| 2020 | Victoria Blair Rhemrev [3] | Long Grove | 17 | Miss North Shore Teen | First Asian American Miss Illinois Teen USA | ||
| 2019 | A’Maiya Allen | Bolingbrook | 18 | Miss Greater Bolingbrook Teen | Top 15 | ||
| 2018 | Sydni Dion Bennett | Algonquin | 16 | Miss Chicago Teen | 3rd Runner-Up | First African American Miss Illinois Teen USA;
| |
| 2017 | Olivia Bohleber | Carmi | 18 | Miss White County Teen | |||
| 2016 | Olivia Pura | Deer Park | 17 | Miss Deer Park Teen | Top 15 |
| |
| 2015 | Megan Riesner | Plainfield | 18 | Miss Will County Teen | |||
| 2014 | Miranda Fenzau | Chicago | 17 | ||||
| 2013 | Grayson Hodgkiss | Downers Grove | 16 | ||||
| 2012 | Alexandra Plotz | Geneva | 17 | Top 16 |
| ||
| 2011 | Paige Higgerson | Cutler | 19 | ||||
| 2010 | Lexi Atkins | Champaign | 18 | 1st runner-up |
| ||
| 2009 | Stacie Juris | Tinley Park | 18 |
| |||
| 2008 | Nora Downs | Chicago | 16 | ||||
| 2007 | Victoria Davis | Thawville | 18 | Top 15 | |||
| 2006 | Ceitlyn Glenn | Effingham | 17 | ||||
| 2005 | Kelly Cruse [4] | Marion | 17 | 3rd runner-up | |||
| 2004 | Brittany Acosta | Warrenville | 16 | ||||
| 2003 | Tiffiney McCormick | Streator | 18 | ||||
| 2002 | Lacey Wilson | Hinsdale | 17 |
| |||
| 2001 | Brittany Richmond | Bristol | 17 | Miss Bristol Teen | |||
| 2000 | Kimberly Williamson | Goodfield | 18 | Died on December 27, 2004 | |||
| 1999 | Amber Dusak | Antioch | 18 | ||||
| 1998 | Nicole Manske | Roscoe | 18 | Semi-finalist | ESPN personality and wife of Australian INDYCAR driver Ryan Briscoe. | ||
| 1997 | Autumn Waterbury | Marion | 18 | 1st runner-up | |||
| 1996 | Eisa Istok [5] | Elgin | 18 | ||||
| 1995 | Anne-Marie Dixon [6] | Highland | 17 | Top 6 |
| ||
| 1994 | Charlotte Martin | Chicago | 17 | ||||
| 1993 | Jaime Lyn Holbrook | Chicago | 16 | ||||
| 1992 | Julee Kleffman | Hoffman Estates | 18 | Semi-finalist | |||
| 1991 | Kara Kline | Champaign | 15 | ||||
| 1990 | Terri Bollinger | Chicago | 17 |
| |||
| 1989 | Kimberly Hannell | Chicago | 17 | ||||
| 1988 | Kathleen McClellan | Duncan | 18 | 3rd runner-up | Miss Photogenic | ||
| 1987 | Danielle Reese | Riverwoods | 17 | ||||
| 1986 | Dyann Lowery [7] | Sandwich | 17 | ||||
| 1985 | Lisa Jessen | Macomb | 17 | Semi-finalist | Miss Photogenic | ||
| 1984 | Cherise Haugen | Sleepy Hollow | 17 | Miss Teen USA 1984 | Best State Costume | Non-finalist at Miss USA 1984 | |
| 1983 | Linda Burkholder | Chicago | 18 | Miss Photogenic |
1 Age at the time of the Miss Teen USA pageant