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Miss Mississippi USA

Beauty pageant competition

Field	Value
name	Miss Mississippi USA
formation	1952
type	Beauty pageant
headquarters	Collierville
location	Tennessee
membership	Miss USA
language	English
key_people	Kim Greenwood, State Pageant Director
website	Official website

The ** Miss Mississippi USA **competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Mississippi in the Miss USA pageant. The pageant was directed by Premier Pageants from 2001 to 2010, before becoming part of Greenwood Productions in 2010 under the ownership of Miss Tennessee USA 1989 Kim Greenwood.

Mississippi has had 13 Miss USA placements as of 2024. They won Miss USA in 2020 with Asya Branch winning the Miss USA 2020 title, becoming the 36th state to have the Miss USA title, 33rd to be crowned. Eight titleholders have competed at Miss Teen USA, and as of 2025, four have competed at Miss America, including Branch. The most recent placement was Kaylee Brooke McCollum in 2024.

McKenzie Cole of Vicksburg was crowned Miss Mississippi USA 2025 on March 29, 2025 at the Pearl River Resort in Choctaw, Mississippi. She represented Mississippi at Miss USA.

Results summary

Placements

Miss USA: Asya Branch (2020)
1st runner-up: Leah Laviano (2008)
3rd runners-up: Cindy Williams (1986)
4th runners-up: Laurie Kimbrough (1979), Dana Richmond (1988)
Top 10/11/12: Kathy Manning (1987), Stephanie Teneyck (1990), Jennifer Adcock (2005), Breanne Ponder (2010)
Top 15/16/20: Marlene Britsch (1961), Patricia Ann Turk (1964), Bailey Anderson (2021), Kaylee Brooke McCollum (2024)

Mississippi holds a record of 13 placements at Miss USA.

Awards

Miss Photogenic: Stephanie Teneyck (1990)
Impact Award: Sydney Russell (2023)

Winners

;Color key

Declared as Winner
Ended as runner-up
Ended as one of the finalists or semifinalists

Year	Name	Hometown	Age1	Local title	Placement at Miss USA	Special awards at Miss USA	Notes
2025	McKenzie Cole	Vicksburg	19	Miss Vicksburg
2024	Kaylee Brooke McCollum	Amory	23	Miss Monroe County	Top 20
2023	Sydney Russell	Meridian	24	Miss Lauderdale Co.		Impact Award
2022	Hailey White	Picayune	23	Miss Southern Magnolia
2021	Bailey Anderson	Hurley	22	Miss Jackson County	Top 16		Longest reigning Miss Mississippi USA ()
2020	Asya Branch	Booneville	22	Miss Northeast MS	Miss USA 2020
2019	Madeleine Overby	Columbus	20	Miss Hattiesburg			Former New Orleans Saintsation cheerleader
2018	Laine Mansour	Tupelo	21	Miss Tupelo
2017	Ashley Hamby	Madison	23	Miss Madison Co.
2016	Haley Sowers	Meridian	22	Miss Lauderdale Co.
2015	Courtney Byrd	Oxford	22	Miss North Mississippi
2014	Chelsea Reardon	Southaven	23	Miss Heart of Dixie			International Junior Miss Teen 2010
2013	Paromita Mitra	Hattiesburg	21	Miss Starkville
2012	Myverick Garcia	Hattiesburg	21	Miss Dixieland
2011	Keeley Patterson	Starkville	20	Miss Starkville
2010	Breanne Ponder	Mount Olive	20		Top 10
2009	Jessica McRaney	Terry	23
2008	Leah Laviano	Ellisville	19		1st runner-up
2007	Jalin Wood	Waynesboro	25			Previously Miss Mississippi 2004
2006	Kendra King	Monticello	20
2005	Jennifer Adcock	Hattiesburg	24		Top 10
2004	Beth Richards	Laurel	25
2003	Allison Bloodworth	Grenada	21
2002	Heather Soriano	Philadelphia	24
2001	Melanie Vaughn	Olive Branch
2000	Angie Carpenter	Greenwood
1999	Kari Babski	Gloster
1998	Angel Whatley	Jackson
1997	Arlene McDonald	Tupelo
1996	Caroline Ramagos	Soso
1995	Jill Tullos						Married Senator Chris McDaniel
1994	Leslie Jetton						Gave up her title in March to become a national spokesperson for Caribe Corporations in New Orleans.
1993	Sherry Bowles	Lambert
1992	Tammy Johnson	Jackson	22				Previously Mississippi's Miss Hospitality 1989
1991	Mitzi Swanson
1990	Stephanie Teneyck		20		Semi-finalist	Miss Photogenic	2nd Runner up at Miss All Nations 1990
1989	Laura Durrett	Olive Branch
1988	Dana Richmond	Madison	20		4th runner-up
1987	Kathy Manning	Drew	24		Semi-finalist
1986	Cindy Williams	Hattiesburg	22		3rd runner-up
1985	Camille Gilliland	Meridian
1984	Carla Green	Biloxi
1983	Becky Case	Jackson
1982	Nancy Perkins	Marks
1981	Angela Ashmore
1980	Cheri Brown	Meridian
1979	Laurie Kimbrough	Oxford			4th runner-up
1978	Wanda Gatlin
1977	Leigh Tapley	Jackson
1976	Teresa Camp
1975	Leigh Cross	Hernando
1974	Denise Clark
1973	Karen Clements
1972	Deborah Pawlik
1971	Janey Gillis
1970	Susan Marsha Ladner	Pass Christian
1969	Rose Marie Ray
1968	Brenda Conerly
1967	Lassie Cooke
1966	Jane Sutherland
1965	Madeline Scarbrough
1964	Patricia Turk				Semi-finalist
1963	Joan Kenebrilde	Hattiesburg					competed in the 1964 Miss Dixie Pageant
1962	Sandra Mazur	Jackson					competed in the 1963 Miss Dixie Pageant
1961	Marlene Britsch				Semi-finalist
1954–1960	Did not compete
1953	Jessie Morgan						Semi-finalist at Miss America 1951
1952	Carolyn Thomas

1 Age at the time of the Miss USA pageant

References

"Producers". Miss Mississippi USA/Teen USA Pageants.
"Profile: Mississippi USA - Breanne Ponder".
Purdy, Jean. (2000-06-06). "With near misses in past, Desoto beauty wins title". The Commercial Appeal.
(1997-06-14). "Jackson woman wins Miss Mississippi USA title". Associated Press.
(1996-06-10). "Two pageants crown winners in Biloxi in double ceremony". The Commercial Appeal.
(1995-12-29). "Shooting For a New Goal MISS USA contestant turns from hoops to rule over different courts". The Commercial Appeal.
(1994-03-10). "Miss Mississippi gets a better offer". The Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate.
(12 May 1970). "SOUTHERN BEAUTIES". [[Tallahassee Democrat]].
(20 May 1969). "BELLE OF ACADIANA". [[The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana).
(17 May 1966). "Beauty, Southern Style, Preps For Miss U.S.A.". [[The Miami News]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

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