Miss Nevada USA

For the state pageant affiliated with Miss America, see Miss Nevada.

Miss Nevada USA

Formation	1952;73 years ago (1952)
Type	Beauty pageant
Headquarters	Las Vegas
Location	Nevada
Membership	Miss USA
Official language	English
Exec. Director	Shanna Moakler
Website	Official website

The Miss Nevada USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Nevada in the Miss USA pageant.

While Nevada did well in the early years of the Miss USA pageant, they only placed once from 1987 to 2000. This streak was broken by Gina Giacinto's finalist placing in Miss USA 2001. Many Miss Nevada USA titleholders previously competed in the Miss Teen USA and Miss America pageants. Seven titleholders previously held the Miss Teen USA state titles six of which having won Miss Nevada Teen USA and the other was Miss Washington Teen USA, three held the Miss Nevada Crown in the Miss America Pageant.

Nia Sanchez of Las Vegas became the first Miss USA ever from the state of Nevada when she was crowned Miss USA 2014, she later placed first runner-up in Miss Universe 2014 to Paulina Vega of Colombia.

Najah Ali of Las Vegas was crowned Miss Nevada USA 2024 on June 30, 2024, at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. She will represent Nevada at Miss USA 2024.

Gallery of titleholders

• 
  Lauren Scyphers, Miss Nevada USA 2006
• 
  Helen Salas after placing first runner-up in Miss Nevada USA 2007, she became Miss Nevada USA after Katie Rees was stripped of her crown.
• 
  Veronica Grabowski, Miss Nevada USA 2008
• 
  Julianna Erdesz, Miss Nevada USA 2010
• 
  Nia Sanchez, Miss Nevada USA 2014 and Miss USA 2014

Results summary

Placements

• Miss USA: Nia Sanchez (2014)
• 1st runners-up: Mary O'Neal Contino (1977)
• 2nd runners-up: Joan Adams (1957), Karen Weller (1961), Kathy Landry (1968), Sheri Schruhl (1970), Carolina Urrea (2018)
• 3rd runners-up: Jade Kelsall (2012), Brittany McGowan (2015)
• 4th runners-up: Janet Hadland (1962), Helen Salas (2007)
• Top 5: Gia Giacinto (2001), Tianna Tuamoheloa (2019)
• Top 10/11/12: Linda Dryden (1974), Christa Lane Daniel (1983), Tammy Perkins (1987), Chelsea Caswell (2013)
• Top 15/16/19/20: Earlene Whitt (1953), Joy Blaine (1959), Kathee Francis (1963), Denyse Turner (1965), Jacqueline Moore (1967), Karen Essklinger (1969), Lauren Scyphers (2006), Victoria Olona (2020), Josie Stephens (2023), Najah Ali (2024)

Nevada holds a record of 27 placements at Miss USA.

Awards

• Miss Congeniality: Alesia Prentiss (1992)
• Best State Costume: Lagracella Omran (1988)

Winners

Color key

•   Declared as winner of Miss USA
•   Ended as runner-up for Miss USA
•   Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists for Miss USA

Year	Name [1]	Hometown	Age1	Local title	Placement	Special awards	Notes
2024	Najah Ali	Las Vegas	23	Miss Silver State	Top 20
2023	Josie Stephens	Fallon	27	Miss Sun Valley	Top 20
2022	Summer Keffeler	Paradise	21	Miss Paradise			Previously Miss Washington Teen USA 2018 Sister of Stormy Keffeler, original titleholder of Miss Washington USA 2016
2021	Kataluna Enriquez	Las Vegas	27	Miss Silver State			First openly transgender woman to compete at Miss USA.
2020	Victoria Olona	Henderson	27	Miss Paradise	Top 16		Winner of the Fan Vote at Miss USA 2020
2019	Tianna Tuamoheloa [2]	North Las Vegas	25	Miss Silver State	Top 5
2018	Carolina Urrea [3]	Sunrise Manor	23	Miss Paradise	2nd runner-up		Contestant on Nuestra Belleza Latina season 7
2017	Lauren York [4]	Primm	22	Miss North Las Vegas
2016	Emelina Adams	Anthem	23	Miss Henderson			1st runner-up Miss Arizona USA 2015
2015	Brittany McGowan	Spring Valley	24	Miss Chateau	3rd runner-up
2014	Nia Sanchez [5]	Southern Highlands	23	Miss South Las Vegas	Miss USA 2014		1st runner-up at Miss Universe 2014
2013	Chelsea Caswell [6]	Summerlin	23	Miss West Las Vegas	Top 10
2012	Jade Kelsall [7]	Las Vegas	26	Miss Whitney Ranch	3rd runner-up
2011	Sarah Chapman [8]	Henderson	27	Miss Henderson			Sister of Miss California USA 2004 Ellen Chapman
2010	Julianna Erdesz	Reno	25	Miss Reno			Previously Miss Nevada 2008
2009	Georgina Vaughan [9]	Las Vegas	20	Miss Castle Rock			Previously Miss Nevada Teen USA 2006.
2008	Veronica Grabowski	Henderson	23
2007	Helen Salas	Las Vegas	21		4th runner-up		Originally first runner-up, assumed the title after Katie Rees was stripped of her crown Previously Miss Nevada Teen USA 2004 2nd runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2004
	Katie Rees	Las Vegas	22		did not compete		Stripped of the title on December 21, 2006, due to inappropriate photographs. [10] [11]
2006	Lauren Scyphers [12]	Gardnerville	20		Top 15
2005	Shivonn Geeb [13]	Las Vegas	25				Originally first runner-up, assumed the title after Sloan Bailey's resignation
	Sloan Bailey	Las Vegas			did not compete		Resigned in January 2005 for personal reasons. [13]
2004	Victoria Franklin	Las Vegas	20				Previously Miss Nevada Teen USA 1998 2nd runner up in Miss Teen USA 1998
2003	Ashley Huff	Henderson	22				Previously Miss Nevada 2001
2002	Jenny Valdez [14]	Las Vegas					Contestant at National Sweetheart 2000 & 2001
2001	Gina Giacinto	Las Vegas	26		Top 5		Previously Miss Nevada 1999
2000	Alicia Carnes [15]	Las Vegas					Previously Miss Nevada Teen USA 1995
1999	Shaynee Smith [16]	Las Vegas	23
1998	Tammie Rankin	Las Vegas					Previously Miss Nevada Teen USA 1993
1997	Ninya Perna [17]	Green Valley	23
1996	Alisa Castillo	Las Vegas
1995	Brook Hammon	Las Vegas					Previously Miss Nevada Teen USA 1991
1994	Angela Lambert	Las Vegas
1993	Alexis Oliver	Las Vegas
1992	Alesia Prentiss	Las Vegas				Miss Congeniality
1991	Jodi Jensen	Las Vegas
1990	Michele Yegge	Las Vegas
1989	Janu Tornell	Las Vegas					Contestant on Survivor: Palau [18]
1988	Lagracella Omran	Las Vegas	20			Best State Costume [19]
1987	Tammy Perkins	Las Vegas	21		Semi-finalist, Finishing in 8th Place
1986	LeAnna Grant	Las Vegas					Previously Miss Nevada 1984
1985	Alicia Berger [20]	Las Vegas					Host of Access Hollywood , [21] judge of Miss USA 2009 pageant [22]
1984	Donna Lee McNeil	Las Vegas
1983	Christa Lane Daniel	Las Vegas			Semi-finalist, Finishing in 7th Place
1982	Andrea Pennington	Las Vegas
1981	Mary Lebsock	Las Vegas
1980	Kimberlee Guider	Las Vegas
1979	Aleasha Magleby	Las Vegas
1978	Dawn Jameson	Las Vegas
1977	Mary O'Neal Contino	Las Vegas			1st runner-up		Played lead role in Australian television series Chuck Finn [23]
1976	Janice Carrell	Las Vegas					Represented Nevada at the 1975 Miss World USA pageant
1975	Madonna Allison	Las Vegas
1974	Linda Dryden	Las Vegas			Semi-finalist
1973	Laura Fritz	Las Vegas
1972	Tracey Lynn Whitney	Las Vegas
1971	Anita Laurie	Las Vegas
1970	Sheri Schruhl	Las Vegas			2nd runner-up
1969	Karen Esslinger	Las Vegas			Semi-finalist
1968	Kathy Landry	Las Vegas			2nd runner-up
1967	Jacqueline Moore	Las Vegas			Semi-finalist
1966	Mary Martin	Las Vegas
1965	Denyse Turner	Las Vegas			Semi-finalist
	Bunny Baxter	Las Vegas					Resigned
1964	Pamela Diane Morris	Las Vegas
1963	Kathee Francis	Las Vegas			Semi-finalist
1962	Janet Hadland	Las Vegas			4th runner-up
1961	Karen Weller	Las Vegas			2nd runner-up
1960	Did Not Compete
1959	Joy Blaine	Las Vegas			Semi-finalist
1958	Terry Jeffers [24]	Las Vegas
1957	Joan Adams	Las Vegas			2nd runner-up		She finished as 3rd runner-up, but succeeded to 2nd runner-up when the 2nd runner-up took the place of the 1st runner-up
1956	Marley Sanderson	Las Vegas
1955	Did Not Compete
1954	Mary Jane Arnold	Las Vegas
1953	Earlene Whitt	Las Vegas			Semi-finalist
1952	Barbara Jean Clark	Las Vegas

¹ Age at the time of the Miss USA pageant

See also

• Nevadaportal

References

1. "Former Titleholders". Miss Nevada USA. The Atwell Group. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2016. This site contains a listing of titleholders through 2010.
2. "Women of the Islands - Tianna Tuamoheloa". The Coconet TV. Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
3. "Miss Nevada USA organization crowns Miss Nevada USA 2018 and Miss Nevada Teen USA 2018". news3lv.com. KSNV. January 16, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
4. Garcia, Tony (November 15, 2016). "Silver State crowns new Miss Nevada USA and Miss Nevada Teen USA". news3lv.com. KSNV . Retrieved March 10, 2025.
5. Plaisance, Stacey (June 8, 2014). "Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez wins Miss USA; she is Silver State's first winner". Las Vegas Sun. Associated Press. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
6. Leach, Robin (January 29, 2013). "2013 Miss Nevada USA Chelsea Caswell wins pre-23rd birthday". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
7. Przybys, John (May 31, 2012). "Chance meeting leads Jade Kelsall to Miss Nevada USA crown". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
8. Katsilometes, John (June 16, 2011). "Miss Nevada USA Sarah Chapman: Preschool exec, model, beauty queen — and children's book author". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
9. Cox, Diana (December 10, 2008). "Valley residents crowned in pageant". Las Vegas Sun.
10. Sedensky, Matt (December 23, 2006). "Ex-Miss Nevada USA Apologizes for Photos". Fox News.
11. Associated Press (December 30, 2006). "Miss Nevada USA won't get her tiara back". East Valley Tribune.^{[ dead link ‍]}
12. Rafferty, Jo (February 26, 2006). "Douglas High graduate represents state in Miss USA competition". The Record-Courier.
13. Frigard, Monique (March 28, 2005). "NEWSMAKERS: Las Vegan prepares for her run in Miss USA Pageant.(living)". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
14. Di Dio, Deana (November 19, 2001). "NEWSMAKERS: Pageant winner keeps busy schedule while reaching goals". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
15. Whitely, Joan (January 30, 2000). "Former magician's assistant hopes to pull a win out of the hat as Miss USA". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
16. Kern, Kirk (January 30, 1999). "Pageant winner in finals". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
17. Willert, Tim (October 16, 1996). "Perna's plans for pageant lofty". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
18. "Reality check". Newsday. April 25, 2005. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011.
19. "Work Clothes Win". The Victoria Advocate. February 23, 1988.
20. "1992 Miss Nevada Teen USA Executive Directors". Miss Nevada USA pageant. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
21. "Alicia Jacobs". My News Three. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
22. "Miss USA judge yanks essay due to threats". UPI. April 29, 2009.
23. Clarke, Norm (July 17, 2000). "Ex-Miss Nevada USA a hit down under".
24. Koch, Ed (December 3, 2013). "Philanthropist had long love affair with Nevada history, dance troupe Rhythmettes". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved April 29, 2015.

External links

• Official Website