Miss Teen USA 1997
# Miss Teen USA 1997

Miss Teen USA 1997, the 15th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from South Padre Island, Texas on 20 August, 1997. At the conclusion of the final competition, Shelly Moore of Tennessee was crowned by outgoing queen Christie Lee Woods of Texas.

The pageant was hosted by J. Eddie Peck, with color commentary by Ivanka Trump, daughter of new pageant owner Donald Trump. This was the first year since 1988 that there was no special entertainment.

## Results

### Placements

| Final results | Contestant |
| - | - |
| Miss Teen USA 1997 | Tennessee – Shelly Moore |
| 1st Runner-Up | Illinois – Autumn Waterbury |
| 2nd Runner-Up | Hawaii – Mahana Ka'ahumanu Walters |
| Top 6 | North Carolina – Ali Burr Kansas – Mariah Bergman Oklahoma – Amanda Penix |
| Top 10 | Virginia – Kimberly Grigsby North Dakota – Julie Nagle Massachusetts – Jessica Gregory Colorado – Amanda Aardsma |

### Special awards

* Miss Congeniality: Christina Todd (Ohio)
* Miss Photogenic: Cristin Duren (Florida)
* Style Award: Andria Mullins (Texas)

### Historical significance

* This was only Colorado's second placement, after Sholone Pakoski made the semi-finals at Miss Teen USA 1990.
* Massachusetts placed for the first time since 1991, Virginia and North Carolina placed for the first time since 1992, and Hawaii placed for the first time since 1993.
* North Dakota placed for the second consecutive year, the first time this happened since 1983 and 1984.
* Florida became the first state since Maryland (Stacey Harris - 1989 & Mary Ann Cimino - 1990) to win the Miss Photogenic award in two consecutive years.

## Scores

### Preliminary competition

The following are the contestants' scores in the preliminary competition.

| State | Interview | Swimsuit | Evening gown | Average |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Alabama | 9.00 | 8.83 | 8.79 | 8.87 |
| Alaska | 8.01 | 8.21 | 8.25 | 8.16 |
| Arizona | 8.09 | 8.21 | 7.98 | 8.09 |
| Arkansas | 8.82 | 8.16 | 8.16 | 8.38 |
| California | 8.58 | 7.92 | 8.82 | 8.51 |
| Colorado | 8.39 | 9.48 | 9.15 | 9.01 |
| Connecticut | 8.75 | 8.64 | 8.68 | 8.69 |
| Delaware | 8.43 | 8.05 | 8.12 | 8.20 |
| District of Columbia | 8.33 | 8.16 | 8.20 | 8.23 |
| Florida | 8.50 | 9.02 | 8.61 | 8.71 |
| Georgia | 8.21 | 8.68 | 8.60 | 8.50 |
| Hawaii | 8.56 | 9.42 | 8.57 | 9.10 |
| Idaho | 9.09 | 8.34 | 8.55 | 8.66 |
| Illinois | 8.87 | 8.99 | 9.09 | 8.98 |
| Indiana | 8.25 | 8.22 | 8.44 | 8.30 |
| Iowa | 9.01 | 8.65 | 8.02 | 8.56 |
| Kansas | 9.59 | 9.25 | 9.28 | 9.37 |
| Kentucky | 8.84 | 8.91 | 8.99 | 8.91 |
| Louisiana | 8.89 | 8.44 | 8.61 | 8.65 |
| Maine | 8.47 | 8.32 | 8.03 | 8.27 |
| Maryland | 8.43 | 8.70 | 8.31 | 8.48 |
| Massachusetts | 9.03 | 9.18 | 9.18 | 9.13 |
| Michigan | 8.76 | 7.88 | 8.64 | 8.43 |
| Minnesota | 8.60 | 8.59 | 8.46 | 8.16 |
| Mississippi | 8.61 | 8.66 | 8.58 | 8.61 |
| Missouri | 8.96 | 8.61 | 9.16 | 8.91 |
| Montana | 8.11 | 7.84 | 7.79 | 7.91 |
| Nebraska | 8.91 | 8.65 | 8.11 | 8.56 |
| Nevada | 8.98 | 8.66 | 8.86 | 8.83 |
| New Hampshire | 9.10 | 8.96 | 8.56 | 8.87 |
| New Jersey | 8.69 | 8.72 | 8.46 | 8.62 |
| New Mexico | 8.77 | 8.97 | 8.60 | 8.78 |
| New York | 8.76 | 8.25 | 8.60 | 8.54 |
| North Carolina | 9.33 | 9.39 | 8.91 | 9.21 |
| North Dakota | 9.49 | 8.88 | 8.82 | 9.06 |
| Ohio | 8.58 | 8.87 | 8.52 | 8.66 |
| Oklahoma | 9.04 | 9.18 | 8.69 | 8.97 |
| Oregon | 8.61 | 8.71 | 8.61 | 8.64 |
| Pennsylvania | 8.15 | 8.39 | 8.14 | 8.23 |
| Rhode Island | 8.16 | 8.33 | 8.08 | 8.19 |
| South Carolina | 9.12 | 8.95 | 8.76 | 8.94 |
| South Dakota | 8.71 | 7.42 | 8.19 | 8.11 |
| Tennessee | 9.26 | 9.49 | 9.27 | 9.34 |
| Texas | 8.77 | 9.03 | 8.93 | 8.91 |
| Utah | 8.90 | 8.57 | 8.46 | 8.64 |
| Vermont | 7.97 | 8.10 | 8.00 | 8.02 |
| Virginia | 9.25 | 9.43 | 8.99 | 9.22 |
| Washington | 8.43 | 8.93 | 8.47 | 8.61 |
| West Virginia | 8.50 | 7.85 | 8.39 | 8.25 |
| Wisconsin | 8.87 | 8.45 | 8.80 | 8.71 |
| Wyoming | 8.31 | 8.24 | 7.61 | 8.05 |

* Legend
* Winner
* First runner-up
* Second runner-up
* Finalist
* Semi-finalist

### Final Competition Score

| State | Preliminary Average | Interview | Swimsuit | Evening Gown | Semifinal Average | Top 6 Question |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tennessee | 9.33 (2) | 9.74 (1) | 9.75 (1) | 9.75 (1) | 9.75 (1) | 9.75 (1) |
| Illinois | 8.98 (9) | 9.60 (2) | 9.67 (2) | 9.75 (2) | 9.67 (2) | 9.67 (3) |
| Hawaii | 9.09 (6) | 9.40 (7) | 9.51 (6) | 9.64 (4) | 9.51 (6) | 9.68 (2) |
| North Carolina | 9.21 (4) | 9.55 (4) | 9.61 (3) | 9.54 (8) | 9.56 (4) | 9.66 (4) |
| Kansas | 9.37 (1) | 9.55 (5) | 9.59 (4) | 9.70 (3) | 9.61 (3) | 9.65 (5) |
| Oklahoma | 8.97 (10) | 9.60 (2) | 9.57 (5) | 9.46 (10) | 9.54 (5) | 9.57 (6) |
| Virginia | 9.22 (3) | 9.50 (6) | 9.33 (9) | 9.58 (7) | 9.47 (7) | |
| North Dakota | 9.06 (7) | 9.40 (7) | 9.32 (10) | 9.60 (5) | 9.44 (8) | |
| Massachusetts | 9.12 (5) | 9.36 (9) | 9.42 (8) | 9.47 (9) | 9.41 (9) | |
| Colorado | 9.00 (8) | 9.01 (10) | 9.46 (7) | 9.60 (6) | 9.35 (10) | |

    Winner
    First Runner-up
    Second Runner-up
    Top 6 Finalist
    Top 10 Semifinalist
    (#) Rank in each round of competition

## Delegates

The Miss Teen USA 1997 delegates were:

* Alabama - Tara Tucker
* Alaska - Laurie Miller
* Arizona - Julie Gulbrandsen
* Arkansas - Brandi Watkins
* California - Kimberly Gloudemans
* Colorado - Amanda Aardsma
* Connecticut - Alita Dawson
* Delaware - Cheryl Crowe
* District of Columbia - Cheri Alexander
* Florida - Cristin Duren
* Georgia - Cheri Wheeler
* Hawaii - Mahana Ka'ahumanu Walters
* Idaho - Kimberly Whiting
* Illinois - Autumn Waterbury
* Indiana - Amber Yoder
* Iowa - Sarah Sucher
* Kansas - Mariah Bergmann
* Kentucky - Kelli Jones
* Louisiana - Sarah Price
* Maine - Crystal Carlson
* Maryland - Brandi Burkhardt - Age: 18
* Massachusetts - Jessica Gregory
* Michigan - Che'vonne Burton
* Minnesota - Jamie Duffney
* Mississippi - Cara Lewis
* Missouri - Larissa Meek - Age: 18
* Montana - Cody Strickler
* Nebraska - Natasha Fisher
* Nevada - Kaci Thompson
* New Hampshire - Bonnie Lynn Gagnon
* New Jersey - Lauren Petty
* New Mexico - Vicki Hughes
* New York - Jessica Ferdinand
* North Carolina - Ali Burr
* North Dakota - Julie Nagle
* Ohio - Christina Todd
* Oklahoma - Amanda Penix - Age: 18
* Oregon - Steve Ficker
* Pennsylvania - Ashley Witner
* Rhode Island - Lauren Alviti
* South Carolina - Caroline Brigman
* South Dakota - Julie Keech
* Tennessee - Shelly Moore - Age: 18
* Texas - Andria Mullins
* Utah - Amy Merrill
* Vermont - Mariah Billado
* Virginia - Kimberly Grigsby
* Washington - Emma DeSilets
* West Virginia - Amanda Burns
* Wisconsin - Allison Schroeder
* Wyoming - Esmeralda Gonzales

## Contestant notes

* Only a year after giving up her Teen title, Amanda Burns (West Virginia) won the Miss West Virginia USA 1999 title and went on to compete at Miss USA 1999. It is rare for a contestant to win the Miss pageant so soon after holding the Teen title.
* Nine years after competing at Miss Teen USA, Cristin Duren won the Miss Florida USA 2006 title. She had previously been a semi-finalist at Miss Florida USA 2002, and second runner-up at Miss Alabama USA 2005. Duren placed fourth runner-up and won the Miss Photogenic award at Miss USA 2006, becoming the first woman to win the Miss Photogenic award at both Miss Teen USA and Miss USA.
* Other delegates who later competed at Miss USA were:
   * Laurie Miller (Alaska) - Miss Alaska USA 2000
   * Amanda Penix (Oklahoma) - Miss Oklahoma USA 2000
   * Larissa Meek (Missouri) - Miss Missouri USA 2001 (finalist at Miss USA 2001)
   * Alita Dawson (Connecticut) - Miss Connecticut USA 2002 (fourth runner-up at Miss USA 2002)
   * Tara Tucker (Alabama) - Miss Alabama USA 2002 (semi-finalist at Miss USA 2002)
   * Cheryl Crowe (Delaware) - Miss Delaware USA 2003
* Delegates who later competed at Miss America were
   * Brandi Burkhardt (Maryland) - Miss New York 1999
   * Che'vonne Burton (Michigan) - Miss Michigan 2000
* Andria Mullins (Texas) competed in Miss USA state pageants for nine years but did not win a title. She was a non-finalist at Miss Texas USA 1999–2000, made the top fifteen in 2001, placed second runner-up in 2002, and made top twelve in 2003 and 2004. Mullins then moved to New York, where she placed fourth runner-up at Miss New York USA, to California where she made top ten at Miss California USA 2006. In her last year of eligibility Mullins again competed in New York where she placed first runner-up to Gloria Almonte, her highest placement. Fourth runner-up at that pageant was another Miss Teen USA 1997 contestant, Ashley Witner (Pennsylvania).
* Larissa Meek (Missouri) starred on the reality television show Average Joe.
* Amy Merrill (Utah) was America's National Teenager 1998.
* Lauren Petty (New Jersey) was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma afterwards, but eventually survived and became an actress, making guest appearances on several TV shows, as well as a temporary contract appearance on General Hospital.

## Judges

* Kim Alexis
* Ron Duguay
* Anthony Michael Hall
* Bridget Hall
* Oribe
* Kerri Strug
