Miss Teen USA 2002
# Miss Teen USA 2002

Miss Teen USA 2002, the 20th anniversary of the Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from South Padre Island, Texas on 28 August 2002. At the conclusion of the final competition, Miss Wisconsin Teen USA Vanessa Marie Semrow was crowned by outgoing queen Marissa Whitley of Missouri.

This was the second consecutive year that the pageant was held on South Padre Island, although it had also been held there in 1997.

Semrow was only the second teenager from Wisconsin to place in the pageant, and the first to win the title. The state's previous placement was in 1984.

In the years after the pageant, two delegates who competed at Miss Teen USA 2002 went on to win the Miss USA title. The class of 2002 is the first to produce two Miss USA winners. The first was Tara Conner of Kentucky, who placed second runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2002 and won the Miss USA 2006 pageant; she was followed by Rachel Smith of Tennessee (semi-finalist and Miss Photogenic at Miss Teen USA) who won Miss USA 2007. Both placed fourth runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant. A third contestant, fourth runner-up Kimberly Harlan of Georgia, competed at Miss World 2003 but did not place.

## Results

### Placements

| Final results | Contestant |
| - | - |
| Miss Teen USA 2002 | Wisconsin – Vanessa Semrow |
| 1st Runner-Up | California – Jennifer Morgan |
| 2nd Runner-Up | Kentucky – Tara Conner |
| 3rd Runner-Up | Maryland – Michelle Attai |
| 4th Runner-Up | Georgia – Kimberly Harlan |
| Top 10 | Connecticut – Ashley Bickford Rhode Island – Alysha Castonguay New York – Marley Delduchetto Tennessee – Rachel Smith Minnesota – Alla Ilushka |

### Special awards

* Miss Congeniality: Austen Brown (South Carolina)
* Miss Photogenic: Rachel Smith (Tennessee)
* Best in Swimsuit: Tara Conner (Kentucky)

### Final competition score

| State | Swimsuit | Evening Gown | Average |
| - | - | - | - |
| Wisconsin | 8.30(6) | 9.00(2) | 8.65(5) |
| California | 9.13(2) | 8.80(4) | 8.97(3) |
| Kentucky | 9.18(1) | 8.79(5) | 8.99(2) |
| Maryland | 8.83(4) | 8.55(6) | 8.69(4) |
| Georgia | 8.95(3) | 9.39(1) | 9.17(1) |
| Connecticut | 8.21(7) | 8.83(3) | 8.52(6) |
| Rhode Island | 8.74(5) | 8.23(9) | 8.49(7) |
| New York | 8.05(8) | 8.28(8) | 8.17(8) |
| Tennessee | 7.55(9) | 8.36(7) | 7.96(9) |
| Minnesota | 7.55(9) | 7.93(10) | 7.74(10) |

* Legend
* Winner
* First Runner-up
* Second Runner-up
* Third Runner-up
* Fourth Runner-up

### Historical significance

* Wisconsin, Connecticut and Minnesota placed for only the second time, Rhode Island placed for the third time. Rhode Island last placed in 1992, when Shanna Moakler made the semi-finals. Wisconsin last placed in 1984, Connecticut in 1993, and Minnesota in 1995.
* Georgia placed for the third consecutive year, the first time this had occurred.
* It was the second time in three years that Miss Kentucky Teen USA placed second runner-up.
* Rachel Smith (Miss USA 2007) became the second Tennessee teen to win Miss Photogenic. The first Tennessee teen to win the title was Lynnette Cole in 1995 who also went on to win the Miss USA 2000 title. Smith went on to follow her footsteps and win Miss USA 2007, eight years later.
* In a rare occurrence, Tara Conner won Miss USA 2006. She then crowned a fellow Miss Teen USA 2002 contestant, Rachel Smith (Miss USA 2007), as her successor.

## Delegates

The Miss Teen USA 2002 delegates were:

* Alabama - Hailey Capps
* Alaska - Rachel Garness
* Arizona - Lynsie Shackelford
* Arkansas - Rachael Eggers
* California - Jennifer Morgan
* Colorado - Lindsey Dowling
* Connecticut - Ashley Bickford
* Delaware - Kelly Anne Horst
* District of Columbia - Glovindria Burgess
* Florida - Ashlee Cuza
* Georgia - Kimberley Harlan
* Hawaii - Erin Madden
* Idaho - Katrina Siddoway
* Illinois - Lacey Wilson
* Indiana - Melyssa Ramos
* Iowa - Haley Johnson
* Kansas - Amber Ross
* Kentucky - Tara Conner
* Louisiana - Candice Stewart
* Maine - Megan Jackson
* Maryland - Michelle Attai
* Massachusetts - Amanda Birdsell
* Michigan - Kyleen Krstich
* Minnesota - Alla Ilushka
* Mississippi - Grace Gore
* Missouri - Courtney Ane Chilcutt
* Montana - Meghan Minnick
* Nebraska - Brieanne Bogart
* Nevada - Kathryn Bigler
* New Hampshire - Jennifer Stein
* New Jersey - Sheri Drach
* New Mexico - Amber Evaro
* New York - Marley Delduchetto
* North Carolina - Brittany Crews
* North Dakota - Jessica Deringer
* Ohio - Renee Jackson
* Oklahoma - Joy Cometti
* Oregon - Kari Ann Peniche
* Pennsylvania - Julienne Shaw
* Rhode Island - Alysha Castonguay
* South Carolina - Austen Brown
* South Dakota - Jessica Fjerstad
* Tennessee - Rachel Smith
* Texas - Brittany Tiner
* Utah - Marin Poole
* Vermont - Melinda Karr
* Virginia - Lauren Barnette
* Washington - Maichal McJunkin
* West Virginia - Heather Estep
* Wisconsin - Vanessa Marie Semrow
* Wyoming - Jamie Mader

## Contestant notes

* Ten contestants later won Miss USA state titles:
   * Marin Poole (Utah) - Miss Utah USA 2005 (Miss USA 2005 Top 15 semifinalist)
   * Candice Stewart (Louisiana) - Miss Louisiana USA 2005
   * Jessica Fjerstad (South Dakota) - Miss South Dakota USA 2005
   * Tara Conner (Kentucky) - Miss Kentucky USA 2006 (Miss USA 2006)
   * Alla Ilushka (Minnesota) - Miss Minnesota USA 2007
   * Rachel Smith (Tennessee) - Miss Tennessee USA 2007 (Miss USA 2007)
   * Lauren Barnette (Virginia) - Miss Virginia USA 2007 (Miss USA 2007 Top 10 finalist)
   * Alysha Castonguay (Rhode Island) - Miss Rhode Island USA 2009
   * Lacey Wilson (Illinois) - Miss Massachusetts USA 2010
   * Ashley Bickford (Connecticut) - Miss Connecticut USA 2010; Triple Crown winner
* Two contestants later won Miss America state titles:
   * Grace Gore (Mississippi) - Miss Tennessee 2007 (Miss America 2008 Top 16 Semifinalist)
   * Ashley Bickford (Connecticut) - Miss Rhode Island 2007 (Miss America 2008 Preliminary Swimsuit winner); Triple Crown winner
* The sister of Erin Madden (Hawaii) competed at Miss Teen USA 2000. The sisters of Jamie Mader (Wyoming) and Rachel Garness (Alaska) both competed at Miss Teen USA 2005.
* Alysha Castonguay (Rhode Island) was a cheerleader for the NFL's New England Patriots for two seasons.
* Kimberly Harlan (Georgia) competed Miss World United States 2003 and represented the United States in Miss World 2003.

## Judges

* Chris Beckman
* Sam Levine
* Maria Menounos
* Paige Mycoskie
* Cyndi Thomson
* Jordi Vilasuso
* Cherise Vonae Shulman
* Ben Wentworth III
