Gallery of titleholders
Jessica Albers, Miss South Dakota USA 2013 (pictured in 2015)
Charlie Buhler, Miss South Dakota 2008
| Formation | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters | Sioux Falls |
| Location | |
Membership | Miss USA |
Official language | English |
Key people | Denise Wallace Craig Heitkamp |
| Website | Official website |
The Miss South Dakota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of South Dakota in the Miss USA pageant. It is currently directed by Future Productions based in Savage, Minnesota since 2002. [1]
South Dakota has placed five times. One notable Miss South Dakota USA was Vanessa Short Bull (2000), one of the first Native Americans to compete at Miss USA. Short Bull was also Miss South Dakota 2002. South Dakota's best placement in the competition was Madison Nipe placing in the top five in 2018.
The current titleholder is Ahmitara Alwal of Sioux Falls who was crowned on May 12, 2024 at the Watertown Event Center in Watertown. She represented South Dakota at the Miss USA 2024 pageant in August 2024.
South Dakota holds a record of 5 placements at Miss USA.
| Year | Name | Hometown | Age [a] | Local title | Placement at Miss USA | Special awards at Miss USA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ahmitara Alwal | Sioux Falls | 25 | Miss Southern South Dakota | |||
| 2023 | Amber Hulse | Hot Springs | 25 | Miss Black Hills |
| ||
| 2022 | Shania Knutson | Viborg | 21 | Miss Brookings County |
| ||
| 2021 | Caroline Pettey | Rapid City | 26 | Miss Rapid City | Top 16 |
| |
| 2020 | Kalani Jorgensen | Sioux Falls | 25 |
| |||
| 2019 | Abigail Merschman | Sioux Falls | 22 | ||||
| 2018 | Madison Nipe | Madison | 21 | Top 5 | |||
| 2017 | Tessa Dee | Mitchell | 25 |
| |||
| 2016 | Madison McKeown | Sioux Falls | 20 | Top 10 |
| ||
| 2015 | Lexy Schenk | Irene | 20 |
| |||
| 2014 | Brittney Palmer | Brookings | 25 | ||||
| 2013 | Jessica Albers | Yankton | 26 | ||||
| 2012 | Taylor Neisen | Rapid City | 20 | ||||
| 2011 | Chandra Burnham | Highmore | 23 | ||||
| 2010 | Emily Miller | Irene | 21 | ||||
| 2009 | Jessica Rowell | Sioux Falls | 22 | ||||
| 2008 | Charlie Buhler | Mitchell | 19 | ||||
| 2007 | Suzie Heffernan | Brookings | 20 | ||||
| 2006 | Alexis LeVan | Sioux Falls | 19 | Contestant at National Sweetheart 2008 | |||
| 2005 | Jessica Fjerstad | Madison | 20 |
| |||
| 2004 | Andrea Parliament | Brandon | 20 | ||||
| 2003 | Jessica Lawrence | Brookings | 25 | Contestant at National Sweetheart 2001 | |||
| 2002 | Sitania Syrovatka | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 2001 | Beth Lovro | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 2000 | Vanessa Short Bull | Rapid City |
| ||||
| 1999 | Shawna Gross | Huron | |||||
| 1998 | Lori O'Brien | Rapid City | |||||
| 1997 | Jamie Swenson | Sioux Falls | 25 | ||||
| 1996 | Caresa Winters | Huron | 20 | ||||
| 1995 | Jenny Snobeck | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1994 | Tabetha Mauck | Mobridge |
| ||||
| 1993 | Kara Rovere | Sturgis | |||||
| 1992 | Shawn Frerichs | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1991 | Jillayne Fossum | Canton |
| ||||
| 1990 | Valerie Sejnoha | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1989 | Nanette Enders | Watertown | |||||
| 1988 | Sandi Lynn Fix | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1987 | Jana Van Woudenberg | Hudson | |||||
| 1986 | Lori Scumacher | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1985 | Stacey Arnold | Rapid City | |||||
| 1984 | Donna Smith | Box Elder | |||||
| 1983 | Kelly Rosenbaum | Elk Point | |||||
| 1982 | Meaghan North | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1981 | Joan Abbott | Irene | |||||
| 1980 | Jane Schmidt | Flandreau | |||||
| 1979 | Noele de Saint Gall | Garretson | |||||
| 1978 | Nadene Oppold | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1977 | Ginger Thomson | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1976 | Dorothy Westphal | Sioux Falls | Miss Congeniality (tie) | ||||
| 1975 | Lanette Rabenberg | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1974 | Debra Ann Brickley | Sioux Falls | Semi-finalist | ||||
| 1973 | Rebecca Bunkers | Brookings | |||||
| 1972 | Kathleen Bakke | DeSmet | |||||
| 1971 | Sonia Hart | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1970 | Cynthia Finley | Sturgis | |||||
| 1969 | Mary Bergen | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1968 | Byrean Blacksmith | Sioux Falls | |||||
| 1967 | Patricia Marshall | Rapid City | |||||
| 1962-1966 | Did not compete | ||||||
| 1961 | Sharon Hoffman | ||||||
| 1960 | Patricia Klith | ||||||
| 1959 | Jeannine Stratton | ||||||
| 1958 | Helen Youngquist | Semi-finalist | |||||
| 1957 | Gay Marshall | ||||||
| 1956 | Did not compete | ||||||
| 1955 | Phyllis Choquette | ||||||
| 1954 | Barbara Ann Brown | ||||||
| 1953 | Kathleen Herman | ||||||
| 1952 | Marlene M. Rieb | withdrew |
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