Miss Teen USA 1986
# Miss Teen USA 1986

Miss Teen USA 1986, the 4th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida on January 21, 1986. At the conclusion of the final competition, Allison Brown of Oklahoma was crowned by outgoing queen Kelly Hu of Hawaii.

This was the first year the pageant was held in Daytona Beach, although it had been staged in Miami the previous year. The pageant was hosted by Michael Young, the host from 1983 to 1984 who returned from hosting after a break in 1985. Colour commentary was provided by Morgan Brittany, and there was entertainment from The Commodores.

## Results

### Placements

| Final Results | Contestant |
| - | - |
| Miss Teen USA 1986 | Oklahoma – Allison Brown |
| 1st Runner-Up | Texas – Becky Pestana |
| 2nd Runner-Up | New York – Claudia Liem |
| 3rd Runner-Up | Virginia – Angela Thigpin |
| 4th Runner-Up | South Dakota – Valerie Marsden |
| Top 10 | Florida – Stefanie Smith Louisiana – Shasta St. Angelo New Jersey – Rosalie Cecilia Cuozzo New Mexico – Kerali Hansen West Virginia – Jody Caldwell |

### Special awards

| Award | Contestant |
| - | - |
| Miss Congeniality | Arkansas – Dana Moody |
| Miss Photogenic | Arizona – Kristy Vanney |
| Best state costume | Pennsylvania – Melissa Forlini |

## Historical significance

* Oklahoma wins competition for the first time. Also becoming in the 4th state who wins Miss Teen USA.
* Texas earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time.
* New York earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time.
* Virginia earns the 3rd runner-up position for the first time.
* South Dakota earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time and reaches its highest placement ever at the contest.
* The only state that placed in semifinals the previous year was Texas.
* Texas placed for the fourth consecutive year.
* New Mexico and Oklahoma last placed in 1984.
* New York and Virginia last placed in 1983.
* Florida placed for the first time.
* Louisiana placed for the first time.
* New Jersey placed for the first time.
* South Dakota placed for the first time.
* West Virginia placed for the first time.
* Hawaii, Illinois, North Carolina and North Dakota break an ongoing streak of placements since 1984.

## Judges

* Beverly Sassoon
* Tim Foli
* Susan Richardson
* Henry Polic II
* Beverly Johnson
* Allen Fawcett
* Randy Ronsfeld
* Marj Dusay
* Bobby To
* Cherise Haugen
* Hinton Battle

## Delegates

The Miss Teen USA 1986 delegates were:

* Alabama - Dell McGhee
* Alaska - Bobbie Mitchell
* Arizona - Kristy Vanney
* Arkansas - Dana Moody
* California - Michelle Lowell
* Colorado - Raeanne Durkee
* Connecticut - Sherry Durweckie
* Delaware - Laura Hawthorne
* District of Columbia - Melissa Gilbert
* Florida - Stefanie Smith - Age: 16
* Georgia - Wendy Newendorf
* Hawaii - Michelle Hardin
* Idaho - Kathryn Comba
* Illinois - Diane Lowery
* Indiana - Kristan Heck
* Iowa - Kristin Hudson
* Kansas - Kimberlee Girrens
* Kentucky - Amy Miller
* Louisiana - Shasta St. Angelo - Age: 16
* Maine - Linda Kiene
* Maryland - Julie Stanford
* Massachusetts - Michelle King
* Michigan - Sherry Turner
* Minnesota - Jennifer Geckal
* Mississippi - Michelle Veshay
* Missouri - Jennifer Tangora
* Montana - Karry Koslecki
* Nebraska - Elizabeth Beshay
* Nevada - Wendy Stuart
* New Hampshire - Diane Dothan
* New Jersey - Rosalie Cuzo - Age: 17
* New Mexico - Kerali Hansen - Age: 17
* New York - Claudia Liem - Age: 15
* North Carolina - Denise Jenkins
* North Dakota - Shannon Keiser
* Ohio - Michele Beane
* Oklahoma - Allison Brown - Age: 17
* Oregon - Dana Christiansen
* Pennsylvania - Melissa Forlini
* Rhode Island - Lori Damiani
* South Carolina - Angela Shuler
* South Dakota - Valerie Marsden - Age: 17
* Tennessee - Wendy Alaose
* Texas - Becky Pestana - Age: 17
* Utah - Michelle Montgomery
* Vermont - Holly Mickable
* Virginia - Angela Thigpen - Age: 15
* Washington - Lisa Elliot
* West Virginia - Jodi Caldwell - Age: 15
* Wisconsin - Lanae Elizabeth St.John
* Wyoming - Julie Henry

### Historical significance

* Allison Brown (Oklahoma) competed in the 1987 Miss USA pageant as Miss Teen USA but did not place.
* New York placed for the first time since Ruth Zakarian won in 1983, and Virginia placed for the first time since 1983, when Tina Marocco was first runner-up to Zakarian.
* South Dakota placed for the first time. This is one of only two placements by South Dakotan teens.
* West Virginia, Louisiana, New Jersey and Florida also placed for the first time. Florida would not place again until 1994.
* Texas placed for the fourth consecutive time.

## Delegates Notes

* Wendy Neuendorf (Georgia) later won the Miss Alabama 1990 and represented Alabama at Miss America 1991.
* Allison Brown competed in the Miss USA 1987 pageant as Miss Teen USA. At the time, Miss Teen USA winners were entitled to compete at Miss USA without winning state titles.
* Other contestants who later competed at Miss USA were
   * Angela Shuler (South Carolina) - Miss South Carolina USA 1989
   * Julie Stanford (Maryland) - Miss Maryland USA 1990
   * Kimberlee Girrens (Kansas) - Miss Kansas USA 1992 (finalist at Miss USA 1992)
   * Linda Marie Kiene (Maine) - Miss Maine USA 1992
