Miss North Carolina Teen USA
Beauty contest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Miss North Carolina Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of North Carolina in the Miss Teen USA pageant and is part of the RPM Productions group.
| Formation | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters | Charlotte |
| Location | |
| Membership | Miss Teen USA |
Official language | English |
| Website | Official website |
North Carolina has been moderately successful at Miss Teen USA, but has never won the title. Their best placement was in 1987, 2006 and 2016 when Peggy Blackwell, Melissa Lingafelt and Emily Wakeman placed first runner-up respectively. North Carolina's greatest success came from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. North Carolina, along with Illinois and Florida, has the most Miss Photogenic award winners in the pageant with three each.
Six Miss North Carolina Teen USA's has crossed over to win the Miss North Carolina USA title. The first was Chelsea Cooley, who went on to win the Miss USA title and place in the top 10 at Miss Universe. The second was Erin O' Kelley, Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2001 who made the top 15 at Miss USA 2007. The third was Julia Dalton who was a second runner up in Miss Teen USA 2008. However, she didn't place at Miss USA 2015. And the fourth was Katie Coble, a second runner up in Miss Teen USA 2007 and a non finalist in Miss USA 2017. The fifth was Jane Axhoj, a second runner up in Miss Teen USA 2015. The sixth was McKenzie Hansley in 2024 placing in the top 20.
Kristen Dalton, who came in first-runner up at the 2005 Miss North Carolina Teen USA pageant to Nikkie Groat, went on to win Miss North Carolina USA in 2009, and won the title of Miss USA 2009. She represented the United States at the Miss Universe pageant in August 2009. Her younger sister Kenzie Dalton, who was first-runner up at the 2006 Miss North Carolina Teen USA pageant, became engaged to actor Chad Michael Murray the same year she placed first-runner up to Melissa Lingafelt (who placed first-runner to Katie Blair of Montana at Miss Teen USA 2006.) Their mother, Jeannie Dalton (Boger) was Miss North Carolina USA 1982, and their sister Julia Dalton was Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2008, and placed second-runner up to Stevi Perry of Arkansas at Miss Teen USA 2008. Julia was Miss North Carolina USA in 2015 and didn't place at the Miss USA 2015 pageant.
Their most recent placement came in 2022, when Gabriela Ortega placed in the top 16.
Caroline Holmes of Mount Olive was crowned Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2025 on August 31, 2025, at The Twichell Auditorium in Spartanburg. She represented North Carolina at Miss Teen USA 2025.
Results summary
Placements
- 1st runners-up: Peggy Blackwell (1987), Melissa Lingafelt (2006), Emily Wakeman (2016)
- 2nd runners-up: Katie Coble (2007), Julia Dalton (2008), Jane Axhoj (2015)
- 4th runner-up: Kaaviya Sambasivam (2018)
- Top 6: Holly Furman (1991), Rachel Adcock (1992), Ali Burr (1997)
- Top 10: Tracey Kaggell (1984), Kimberly Jordan (1985)
- Top 16: Kat Puryear (2012), Peyton Brown (2020), Gabriela Ortega (2022)
North Carolina holds a record of 15 placements at Miss Teen USA.
Awards
- Miss Congeniality: Holly Furman (1991)
- Miss Photogenic: Rachel Adcock (1992), Melissa Lingafelt (2006), Gabriela Ortega (2022)
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 MTUSA | Special awards at MTUSA | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Caroline Holmes | Chattanooga, TN | 17 | Miss Mount Olive Teen | |||
| 2024 | Kaylee Stavlas | Smithfield | 17 | Miss City of Oaks Teen | |||
| 2023 | Katie Setzer[1] | Hickory | 17 | Miss Mountain View Teen | |||
| 2022 | Gabriela Ortega | Raleigh | 16 | Miss Wake County Teen | Top 16 | ||
| 2021 | Madison Walker | Garner | 18 | Miss Garner Teen |
| ||
| 2020 | Peyton Brown | Dunn | 18 | Miss Tri-County Teen | Top 16 | 1st runner-up at Miss North Carolina's Outstanding Teen 2018[2]
| |
| 2019 | Eliza Minor | Harrisburg | 15 | Miss Harrisburg Teen | |||
| 2018 | Kaaviya Sambasivam | Winston-Salem | 18 | Miss Forsyth County Teen | 4th runner-up | ||
| 2017 | McKenzie Hansley[3] | Hampstead | 17 | Miss Topsail Island Teen |
| ||
| 2016 | Emily Wakeman | Cornelius | 18 | Miss North Charlotte Teen | 1st runner-up | 4th runner-up at Miss South Carolina 2021[5] | |
| 2015 | Jane Axhoj | Charlotte | 16 | Miss South Charlotte Teen | 2nd runner-up |
| |
| 2014 | Pammy Peters | Raleigh | 17 | Miss Charlotte Teen | |||
| 2013 | Kelsey Barberio | Chapel Hill | 18 | Miss Chapel Hill Teen | |||
| 2012 | Kat Puryear[6] | Thomasville | 18 | Miss Thomasville Teen | Top 16 |
| |
| 2011 | Vanessa McClelland[9] | Fayetteville | 18 | ||||
| 2010 | Lauren Ashley Martz | Salisbury | 16 | ||||
| 2009 | Scarlett Howell | Ansonville | 16 | ||||
| 2008 | Julia Dalton | Wilmington | 16 | 2nd runner-up |
Daughter of Jeannie Dalton (Boger), Miss North Carolina USA 1982, Sister of Kristen Dalton, Miss USA 2009 (Miss North Carolina USA 2009) | ||
| 2007 | Katie Coble | Matthews | 16 | 2nd runner-up[10] |
| ||
| 2006 | Melissa Lingafelt | Concord | 16 | 1st runner-up | Miss Photogenic | ||
| 2005 | Nikkie Groat | Matthews | 17 | ||||
| 2004 | Elizabeth Carty | High Point | 17 |
| |||
| 2003 | Erin Hendricks | High Point | 18 | ||||
| 2002 | Brittany Crews | Wake Forest | 1st runner-up at Miss North Carolina USA 2008 pageant | ||||
| 2001 | Erin O'Kelley | Asheville | 15 |
| |||
| 2000 | Chelsea Cooley | Charlotte | 16 |
| |||
| 1999 | Stephanie Holt | Albemarle | 18 | ||||
| 1998 | Lucy Parker | Denver | 19 | ||||
| 1997 | Ali Burr | Stanfield | 17 | Finalist | |||
| 1996 | Tammy Ashton | Gastonia | 19 | ||||
| 1995 | Meridith Jackson | High Point | 18 | ||||
| 1994 | Valarie Beasley | Dunn | 16 | ||||
| 1993 | Wendy Williams | Wade | 15 | Sister of Heidi Sue Williams, Miss North Carolina 1992[11] | |||
| 1992 | Rachel Adcock | Conover | 17 | Top 6 | Miss Photogenic | ||
| 1991 | Holly Furman | Boone | 17 | Top 6 | Miss Congeniality | ||
| 1990 | Heather Simmons | Wilmington | 16 | ||||
| 1989 | Kelly Sheppard | Leicester | 17 | ||||
| 1988 | Michelle Moore | Fuquay-Varina | 18 | ||||
| 1987 | Peggy Blackwell | Fayetteville | 17 | 1st runner-up | |||
| 1986 | Denise Jenkins | Wilmington | 16 | ||||
| 1985 | Kimberly Jordan | Wilmington | 17 | Top 10 | |||
| 1984 | Tracey Kaggell | Waynesville | 17 | Top 10 | |||
| 1983 | Janet Freeman | Asheville | 19 |
1 Age at the time of the Miss Teen USA pageant