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Miss Maryland USA

Beauty pageant competition

Field	Value
name	Miss Maryland USA
formation	1952
type	Beauty pageant
headquarters	Clermont
location	Florida
membership	Miss USA
language	English
key_people	Deborah Miller
Cindy Provost
website	Official website

Cindy Provost The ** Miss Maryland USA **competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state Maryland in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant is directed by D&D Productions.

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.

Lexia Gillette of Chevy Chase was crowned Miss Maryland USA 2025 on August 24, 2025 at Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Rockville. She will represent Maryland at Miss USA 2025.

Gallery of titleholders

File:Mary leona kaminer nee gage.jpg|Mary Leona Gage, Miss Maryland USA 1957 & Miss USA 1957 File:MichaeHolloman.jpg|Michaé Holloman, Miss Maryland USA 2007 File:Casandra Tressler headshot.png|Casandra Tressler, Miss Maryland USA 2008 File:Nana_Meriwether_2012.jpg|Nana Meriwether, Miss Maryland USA 2012. She later assumed the Miss USA 2012 title after Olivia Culpo won Miss Universe 2012 File:Miss Maryland USA and Miss Maryland Teen USA 2015.jpg|Taylor Dawson, Miss Maryland Teen USA 2015 and Mamé Adjei, Miss Maryland USA 2015 at an event for military families Bailey Anne Kennedy (54037772523).jpg|Bailey Anne Kennedy, Miss Maryland USA 2024

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
2025	Lexia Gillette	Chevy Chase	29	Miss Chevy Chase
2024	Bailey Anne Kennedy	Williamsport	31	Miss Williamsport			First trans woman to win the title.
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
2018	Brittinay Nicolette	Fallston	26		Top 15
2017	Adrianna David	Rockville	22	Miss University of Maryland
2016	Christina Denny	Owings Mills	25
2015	Mamé Adjei	Silver Spring	23		4th runner-up
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
2011	Allyn Rose	Newburg	22		Top 8
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
1994	Wendy Davis	Silver Spring
1993	Mary Ann Cimino	Baltimore
1992	Renee Rebstock	Pasadena
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 Annette Walker	Kingsville	19		Top 12
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	Miss Perry Hall	1st runner-up	Top 15 Best in Swimsuit
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
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
1958	Patricia Vogts	Silver Spring
1957	Mary Leona Gage	Glen Burnie	18		Miss USA 1957
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

References

(13 June 2024). "'Every woman, universally': Military wife is first Asian American, transgender woman to win Miss Maryland". NBC4 Washington.
(7 December 2004}}{{dead link). "Meade, UMd. Grad Crowned Miss Maryland USA". WBALTV.
(1999-12-13). "University Senior Wins Miss Maryland USA Pageant". Howard University.
(16 May 1980). "South Carolina coed is new Miss USA". [[Hattiesburg American]].
(16 May 1968). "SWIMSUIT WINNERS". [[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]].
(1963-09-02). "Miss USA roots sister on in Miss America bid". Hartford Courant.
Woestendiek, John. (10 April 2005). "The long, unhappy pageant of Mary Leona Gage". The Baltimore Sun.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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