Miss Teen USA 1985
# Miss Teen USA 1985

Miss Teen USA 1985, the 3rd Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from the James L. Knight International Center Arena in Miami, Florida on 22 January 1985. At the conclusion of the final competition, Kelly Hu of Hawaii was crowned by outgoing queen Cherise Haugen of Illinois.

## Results

### Placements

| Final Results | Contestant |
| - | - |
| Miss Teen USA 1985 | Hawaii – Kelly Hu |
| 1st Runner-Up | Wyoming – Emily Ernst |
| 2nd Runner-Up | Washington – Dru Homer |
| 3rd Runner-Up | Texas – Konae Wehle |
| 4th Runner-Up | Missouri – Rhonda Hoglan |
| Top 10 | Arkansas – Rhonda Heird Georgia – Meredith Brown Illinois – Lisa Jessen North Carolina – Kimberly Jordan North Dakota – Jill Hutchinson |

### Special awards

| Award | Contestant |
| - | - |
| Miss Congeniality | Mississippi – Chelle Wilson |
| Miss Photogenic | Illinois – Lisa Jessen |
| Best state costume | West Virginia – Kelly Porterfield |

## Historical significance

* Hawaii wins competition for the first time. Also becoming in the 3rd state who wins Miss Teen USA.
* Wyoming earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time.
* Washington earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time.
* Texas earns the 3rd runner-up position for the first time.
* Missouri earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
* States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Hawaii, Illinois, North Carolina, North Dakota and Texas.
* Texas placed for the third consecutive year.
* Hawaii, Illinois, North Carolina and North Dakota made their second consecutive placement.
* Arkansas, Georgia and Washington last placed in 1983.
* Missouri placed for the first time.
* Wyoming placed for the first time.

## Judges

* Ken Swofford
* Cathy Rigby McCoy
* Christian LeBlanc
* Ruth Zakarian - Miss Teen USA 1983 from New York
* Rowdy Gaines
* Lindsay Bloom
* Eric Van Lustbader
* Krista Tesreau
* Mayf Nutter
* Rebe Jackson
* Frank Bonner

## Delegates

The Miss Teen USA 1985 delegates were:

* Alabama - Teresa King
* Alaska - Debbie Essin
* Arizona - Vanessa Stetson
* Arkansas - Rhonda Heird
* California - Sharon Gunther
* Colorado - Debbie James
* Connecticut - Kris Kunst
* Delaware - Julie Weasley
* District of Columbia - Meisha Hayes
* Florida - Erin Townsend
* Georgia - Meredith Brown
* Hawaii - Kelly Hu
* Idaho - Tracey Shirley
* Illinois - Lisa Jessen
* Indiana - Diana Ballard
* Iowa - Alisha Black
* Kansas - Tammy Lampton
* Kentucky - Leanne Gregory
* Louisiana - Julie Semika
* Maine - Tracy Smith
* Maryland - Lynn Bogardus
* Massachusetts - Maria Ingles
* Michigan - Tracey Shaw
* Minnesota - Lana Burke
* Mississippi - Chelle Wilson
* Missouri - Rhonda Hoglan
* Montana - Katie Adams
* Nebraska - Tina Farber
* Nevada - Leslie Peterson
* New Hampshire - Katherine Borski
* New Jersey - Sharon Turner
* New Mexico - Teresa Rodriguez
* New York - Shelley Lown
* North Carolina - Kimberly Jordan
* North Dakota - Jill Hutchinson
* Ohio - Meg Scranton
* Oklahoma - Julie Khourey
* Oregon - Olga Calderon
* Pennsylvania - Kari Bernowski
* Rhode Island - Chris Pavalli
* South Carolina - Jennifer Neuen
* South Dakota - Sarah Bergraft
* Tennessee - Tammy Woods
* Texas - Konae Wehle
* Utah - Susan Nelson
* Vermont - Wanda Minard
* Virginia - Alice Robinson
* Washington - Dru Homer
* West Virginia - Kelly Porterfield - Best State Costume Winner
* Wisconsin - Maria Kim
* Wyoming - Emily Ernst

## Contestant notes

* In 1993 Kelly Hu became the first Miss Teen USA winner to win a Miss USA state pageant. As Miss Hawaii USA she competed in the Miss USA 1993 pageant, making the finals and finishing 4th (3rd runner up, top 6 finalist), and winning the Miss Photogenic award.
* Other delegates who later competed in the Miss USA pageant were:
   * Debbie James (Colorado) - Miss Colorado USA 1989 (Top 10 Semifinalist at Miss USA 1989)
   * Rhonda Hoglan (Missouri) - Miss Missouri USA 1989
   * Julie Khourey (Oklahoma) - Miss Oklahoma USA 1991 (Top 6 Finalist at Miss USA 1991)
   * Olga Calderon (Oregon) - Miss Oregon USA 1991 (Semi-finalist at Miss USA 1991)
* Two contestants later competed in the Miss America pageant: Maria Kim (Wisconsin) who was Miss Wisconsin 1987, and Teresa Rodriguez (New Mexico) who was Miss New Mexico 1988
