Marina Harrison
The first Miss USA winner from Maryland, Mary Leona Gage, won Miss USA 1957. However, she was later discovered to be a mother of two sons and was therefore dethroned. In 2012, Nana Meriwether placed 1st runner-up, but became Miss USA 2012 when Olivia Culpo won Miss Universe 2012.
Seven Maryland titleholders are former Miss Maryland Teen USAs. These four all reigned in the early 1990s, and in fact four out of seven titleholders from 1990 to 1995 were former teens. Only four Miss Maryland USA has competed at Miss America.
From 2006 to 2008, each woman who won Miss Maryland USA was the previous year's first runner-up.
In June 2024, Bailey Anne Kennedy became the first trans woman to win the pageant.
Bailey Anne Kennedy of Williamsport was crowned Miss Maryland USA 2024 on June 1, 2024 at Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Rockville. She will represent Maryland at Miss USA 2024.
Gallery of titleholders
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Charlene Holt, Miss Maryland USA 1956
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Mary Leona Gage, Miss Maryland USA 1957 & Miss USA 1957
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Michaé Holloman, Miss Maryland USA 2007
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Casandra Tressler, Miss Maryland USA 2008
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Nana Meriwether, Miss Maryland USA 2012. She later assumed the Miss USA 2012 title after Olivia Culpo won Miss Universe 2012
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Taylor Dawson, Miss Maryland Teen USA 2015 and Mamé Adjei, Miss Maryland USA 2015 at an event for military families
Results summary
Miss USA placements
- Miss USAs: Mary Leona Gage †(1957)
- 1st runners-up: Paulette Reck (1968), Nana Meriwether (2012)
- 4th runners-up: Betty Jo Grove (1973), Mamé Adjei (2015)
- Top 8/10/12: Carol Theis (1971), Tonja Walker (1980), Linda Lambert (1981), Angie Boyer (1982), Rowann Brewer (1988), Jennifer Wilhoit (1995), Marina Harrison (2005), Allyn Rose (2011), Taylor Burton (2014), Mariela Pepin (2019), Layilah Nasser (2021)
- Top 15/20: Barbara Eschenburg (1954), Charlene Holt (1956), Diane White (1959), Royette Tarry (1964), Roselaine Zetter (1966), Sandy Clevering (1967), Kasey Staniszewski (2013), Brittinay Nicolette (2018), Savena Mushinge (2023)
Maryland holds a record of 25 placements at Miss USA.
Awards
- Miss Photogenic: Rowann Brewer (1988)
- Style Award: Megan Gunning (2001)
Winners
- Color key
- Declared as Winner
- Ended as runner-up
- Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists
Year | Name | Hometown | Age | Local title | Placement at Miss USA | Special awards at Miss USA | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | Bailey Anne Kennedy | Williamsport | 31 | Miss Williamsport | |||
2023 | Savena Mushinge | Germantown | 26 | Miss Germantown | Top 20 |
| |
2022 | Caleigh Shade | Cumberland | 22 |
| |||
2021 | Layilah Nasser | Montgomery Village | 26 | Top 8 | |||
2020 | Taelyr Robinson | Annapolis | 27 |
| |||
2019 | Mariela Pepin | Severn | 23 | Top 10 |
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2018 | Brittinay Nicolette | Fallston | 26 | Top 15 | |||
2017 | Adrianna David | Rockville | 22 | Miss University of Maryland |
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2016 | Christina Denny | Owings Mills | 25 |
| |||
2015 | Mamé Adjei | Silver Spring | 23 | 4th runner-up |
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2014 | Taylor Burton | La Plata | 25 | Top 10 | |||
2013 | Kasey Staniszewski | Annapolis | 21 | Top 15 | Triple crown winner
| ||
2012 | Nana Meriwether | Potomac | 27 | 1st runner-up |
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2011 | Allyn Rose | Newburg | 22 | Top 8 |
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2010 | Simone Feldman | North Potomac | 23 | ||||
2009 | Gabrielle Carlson | Marion Station | 24 | ||||
2008 | Casandra Tressler | Damascus | 22 | ||||
2007 | Michaé Holloman | Fort Washington | 25 | ||||
2006 | Melissa DiGiulian | Bowie | 20 | ||||
2005 | Marina Harrison | Severn | 24 | Top 10 |
| ||
2004 | Tia Shorts | Gaithersburg | 24 | ||||
2003 | Jamie Kramer | Pasadena | |||||
2002 | Mistie Renee Adams | Silver Spring | |||||
2001 | Megan Gunning | Fallston | Style Award | ||||
2000 | Christie S. Davis | Silver Spring |
| ||||
1999 | Kelly Donohue | Union Bridge | |||||
1998 | Maria Lynn Sheriff | Bowie | |||||
1997 | Ann Coale | Baltimore | |||||
1996 | Michele Michael | Annapolis | |||||
1995 | Jennifer Danielle Wilhoit | Annapolis | 22 | Top 12 |
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1994 | Wendy Davis | Silver Spring |
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1993 | Mary Ann Cimino | Baltimore |
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1992 | Renee Rebstock | Pasadena |
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1991 | Lisa Marie Lawson | Crofton | |||||
1990 | Julie Stanford | Edgewater |
| ||||
1989 | Jackie Carroll | Gaithersburg | |||||
1988 | Rowanne Brewer | Silver Spring | 23 | Semi-finalist | Miss Photogenic |
| |
1987 | Michelle Snow | Germantown | |||||
1986 | Kelly Koehler | Churchton | |||||
1985 | Christine Marie | Baldwin | |||||
1984 | Betsy Cook* | Bethesda | |||||
1983 | Shawn Keller | Ashton | |||||
1982 | Angie Boyer | Dunkirk | 18 | Semi-finalist | |||
1981 | Linda Susan Lambert | Baltimore | 22 | Semi-finalist | |||
1980 | Tonja Walker | Kingsville | 19 | Semi-finalist |
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1979 | Jean Bourne | Silver Spring | |||||
1978 | Rhonda Koch | Brookeville | Unplaced at Miss World USA 1976, as Miss District of Columbia World. | ||||
1977 | Twyla Littleton | Oxon Hill | |||||
1976 | Linda Lee Potter | Adelphi | |||||
1975 | Ellen Bowie | Templeville | |||||
1974 | Mary Jo Ruppert | College Park | |||||
1973 | Betty Jo Grove | College Park | 19 | 4th runner-up | |||
1972 | Patty Townsend | Silver Spring | |||||
1971 | Carol Jeanne Theis | Silver Spring | 20 | Semi-finalist | |||
1970 | Beckie Price | Camp Springs | |||||
1969 | Ardis Fowler | Ellicott City | |||||
1968 | Paulette Reck | Perry Hall | 20 | 1st runner-up |
| ||
1967 | Sandra Clevering | Silver Spring | 19 | Semi-finalist | |||
1966 | Roselaine Zetter | Bowie | 22 | Semi-finalist | |||
1965 | Barbara Kiefer | Baltimore | |||||
1964 | Royette Michele Tarry | Baltimore | 19 | Semi-finalist |
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1963 | Marsha Barbara Metrinko | Laurel |
| ||||
1962 | Shelda Farley | Catonsville | |||||
1961 | Gail Baxter | High Point | |||||
1960 | Jerri Fiorilli | Baltimore | |||||
1959 | Diane Dolores White | Baltimore | 24 | Semi-finalist |
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1958 | Patricia Vogts | Silver Spring | |||||
1957 | Mary Leona Gage* | Glen Burnie | 18 | Miss USA 1957 |
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1956 | Charlene Holt* | Annapolis | 28 | Semi-finalist | |||
1955 | Gloria Ruth King | Baltimore | |||||
1954 | Barbara Eschenburg | Berlin | Semi-finalist | Disqualified (under age) | |||
1953 | Diane Gale Durham | Silver Spring | |||||
1952 | Did not compete |
Notes
- ^ Mary Leona Gage was later dethroned when she was discovered that she was married and had two children.
- ^ Nana Meriwether was 1st runner-up at Miss USA, but succeeded the title when Olivia Culpo became Miss Universe.
- ^ Age at the time of the Miss USA pageant
References
- ^ More, Maggie; McFly, Tommy; Reporter, News4 Scene; Harris, Leon (13 June 2024). "'Every woman, universally': Military wife is first Asian American, transgender woman to win Miss Maryland". NBC4 Washington.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Meade, UMd. Grad Crowned Miss Maryland USA". WBALTV. 7 December 2004.
- ^ "University Senior Wins Miss Maryland USA Pageant". Howard University. 13 December 1999. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012.
- ^ "Miss USA roots sister on in Miss America bid". Hartford Courant. 2 September 1963. p. 20A.
- ^ Woestendiek, John (10 April 2005). "The long, unhappy pageant of Mary Leona Gage". The Baltimore Sun.