Miss USA 2002

51st Miss USA pageant

Deion Sanders
Ali Landry

EntertainmentSara EvansVenueGenesis Convention Center, Gary, IndianaBroadcasterCBS, WBBM-TVEntrants51Placements12WinnerShauntay Hinton
District of ColumbiaCongenialityMeredith McCannel

MontanaPhotogenicShannon Ford

Florida

← 2001

2003 →

Miss USA 2002 was the 51st Miss USA pageant, held at Genesis Convention Center in Gary, Indiana on March 1, 2002. The event was won by Shauntay Hinton of the District of Columbia, who was crowned by outgoing queen Kandace Krueger of Texas.^[1] The host was Deion Sanders.^[1]

This was the last Miss USA show was aired on CBS. Beginning with Miss USA 2003, NBC assumed co-ownership of the pageant along with Donald Trump, and as a result began televising the pageant.

Results

Placements

Final Results	Contestant
Miss USA 2002	District of Columbia – Shauntay Hinton
1st Runner-Up	Kansas – Lindsay Douglas
2nd Runner-Up	Indiana – Kelly Lloyd^[2]
3rd Runner-Up	Minnesota – Lanore van Buren
4th Runner-Up	Connecticut – Alita Hawaah Dawson
Top 12	Alabama – Tara Tucker California – Tarah Peters Louisiana – Anne Lene New York – Karla Cavalli Rhode Island – Janet Sutton South Carolina – Ashley Williams Texas – Kasi Kelly

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	Montana – Meredith McCannel
Miss Photogenic	Florida – Shannon Ford
Best in Swimsuit	Minnesota – Lanore VanBuren

Delegates

The Miss USA 2002 delegates were:

Alabama – Tara Tucker
Alaska – Christine Olejniczak
Arizona – Jennifer Lenz
Arkansas – Amber Boatman
California – Tarah Marie Peters
Colorado – Keely Gaston
Connecticut – Alita Dawson
Delaware – Deborah Ann Hoffman
District of Columbia – Shauntay Hinton
Florida – Shannon Ford
Georgia – Heather Hogan
Hawaii – Juliet Lighter
Idaho – Hilary Ball
Illinois – Amanda Reynolds
Indiana – Kelly Lloyd
Iowa – Lauren Wilson
Kansas – Lindsey Douglas
Kentucky – Elizabeth Arnold
Louisiana – Anne-Katherine Lené
Maine – Su-Ying Leung
Maryland – Misti Adams
Massachusetts – Latoyia Foster
Michigan – Rebekah Lynn Decker
Minnesota – Lanore van Buren
Mississippi – Heather Soriano
Missouri – Melana Scantlin
Montana – Meredith McCannel
Nebraska – Stacey Skidmore
Nevada – Jenny Valdez
New Hampshire – Audra Paquette
New Jersey – Robin Williams
New Mexico – Ellyn Colyer
New York – Karla Cavalli
North Carolina – Alison English
North Dakota – Amy Elkins
Ohio – Kimberly Mullen
Oklahoma – Kasie Head
Oregon – Kristi Walkowski
Pennsylvania – Nicole Bigham
Rhode Island – Janet Sutton
South Carolina – Ashley Williams
South Dakota – Sitania Syrovatka
Tennessee – Allison Alderson
Texas – Kasi Kelly
Utah – Abbie Smith
Vermont – Brooke Angus
Virginia – Julie Laipply
Washington – Carly Shorten
West Virginia – Angela Davenport
Wisconsin – Cortney Owen
Wyoming – Jeannie Crofts

Historical significance

District of Columbia wins competition for the second time. This became the first win for the District of Columbia in 38 years, when Bobbie Johnson won Miss USA 1964.
Kansas earns the 1st runner-up position for the second time. The last time it placed this was in 1996.
Indiana earns the 2nd runner-up position for the second time. The last time it placed this was in 1966. Also had its highest placement since 1981.
Minnesota earns the 3rd runner-up position for the first time and reaches its highest placement since 1995.
Connecticut earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time and reaches its highest placement since 1966.
States that placed in semifinals the previous year were District of Columbia, Rhode Island and Texas. All of them made their second consecutive placement.
Alabama, Kansas, New York and South Carolina last placed in 2000.
California and Indiana last placed in 1999.
Louisiana last placed in 1998.
Minnesota last placed in 1995.
Connecticut last placed in 1969.
Georgia breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 2000.
Tennessee breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1999.
Michigan breaks an ongoing streak of placements since 1998.

Swimsuit controversy

Controversy erupted over the choice of swimsuits for the swimsuit final competition. Six of the 51 delegates chose an all-red one-piece, while the rest wore a two-piece option. The New York Post reported one contestant, Tarah Marie Peters of California, had points deducted by one judge because of her choice of a one-piece suit, thus eliminating her from the top five contestants. She was the only one of the top twelve who wore the one-piece option.^[3]

Crossovers

Ten delegates had previously competed in either the Miss Teen USA or Miss America pageants, including the two Triple Crown winners who had competed in both. One delegate later won a Miss America state title.

Delegates who had previously held a Miss Teen USA state title were:

Kelly Lloyd (Indiana) - Miss Indiana Teen USA 1993 (1st runner-up at Miss Teen USA 1993)
Nicole Bigham (Pennsylvania) - Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 1994
Allison Alderson (Tennessee) - Miss Tennessee Teen USA 1994 (Top 6 finalist at Miss Teen USA 1994)
Melana Scantlin (Missouri) - Miss Missouri Teen USA 1995 (Top 12 semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 1995)
Tara Tucker (Alabama) - Miss Alabama Teen USA 1997
Alita Dawson (Connecticut) - Miss Connecticut Teen USA 1997
Elizabeth Arnold (Kentucky) - Miss Kentucky Teen USA 1998
Christine Olejniczak (Alaska) - Miss Alaska Teen USA 2000

Delegates who had previously held a Miss America state title or would later win one were:

Keely Gaston (Colorado) - Miss Colorado 1998
Heather Soriano (Mississippi) - Miss Mississippi 1999
Kelly Lloyd (Indiana) - Miss Indiana 1999 (Albert A. Marks Jr. Interview award)
Allison Alderson (Tennessee) - Miss Tennessee 1999
Audra Paquette (New Hampshire) - Miss New Hampshire 2005

Delegates who participate in other beauty pageant later are:

Brooke Elizabeth Angus (Vermont) - Representative of United States in Miss World 2006.

Judges

References

^ ^a ^b "Miss District of Columbia crowned Miss USA". The Sentinel-Record. 3 March 2002. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^ "Trump's Gary pageant was a beaut for former Miss Indiana". Salina Journal. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^ "The Insiders: The Post takes you behind the locker-room doors". New York Post. 2002-04-14. p. 90. Retrieved 2007-01-11.