Miss Mississippi USA
Beauty pageant competition
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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.[1]
| Formation | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters | Collierville |
| Location | |
| Membership | Miss USA |
Official language | English |
Key people | Kim Greenwood, State Pageant Director |
| Website | Official website |
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 (1 year and 20 days) | |
| 2020 | Asya Danielle Branch | Booneville | 22 | Miss Northeast MS | Miss USA 2020 |
| |
| 2019 | Madeleine Overby | Columbus | 20 | Miss Hattiesburg |
| ||
| 2018 | Laine Alden Mansour | Tupelo | 21 | Miss Tupelo | |||
| 2017 | Ashley Hamby | Madison | 23 | Miss Madison Co. | |||
| 2016 | Haley Brooke Sowers | Meridian | 22 | Miss Lauderdale Co. |
| ||
| 2015 | Courtney Byrd | Oxford | 22 | Miss North Mississippi | |||
| 2014 | Chelsea Reardon | Southaven | 23 | Miss Heart of Dixie |
| ||
| 2013 | Paromita Mitra[citation needed] | Hattiesburg | 21 | Miss Starkville |
| ||
| 2012 | Myverick Rashea Garcia | Hattiesburg | 21 | Miss Dixieland | |||
| 2011 | Keeley Patterson | Starkville | 20 | Miss Starkville | |||
| 2010 | Courtney Breanne Ponder | Mount Olive[2] | 20 | Top 10 | |||
| 2009 | Jessica Lauren McRaney | Terry | 23 |
| |||
| 2008 | Leah Laviano | Ellisville | 19 | 1st runner-up | |||
| 2007 | Jalin Wood | Waynesboro | 25 |
| |||
| 2006 | Kendra King | Monticello | 20 | ||||
| 2005 | Jennifer Leigh Adcock | Hattiesburg | 24 | Top 10 |
| ||
| 2004 | Beth Richards | Laurel | 25 | ||||
| 2003 | Allison Bloodworth | Grenada | 21 |
| |||
| 2002 | Heather Michelle Soriano | Philadelphia | 24 |
| |||
| 2001 | Melanie Vaughn[3] | Olive Branch | |||||
| 2000 | Angie Michelle Carpenter | Greenwood |
| ||||
| 1999 | Kari Lynn Babski | Gloster | |||||
| 1998 | Angel Whatley[4] | Jackson | |||||
| 1997 | Arlene McDonald[5] | Tupelo |
| ||||
| 1996 | Caroline Ramagos[6] | Soso | |||||
| 1995 | Jill Tullos | Married Senator Chris McDaniel | |||||
| 1994 | Leslie Lynn Jetton | Gave up her title in March to become a national spokesperson for Caribe Corporations in New Orleans.[7] | |||||
| 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 Leigh Durrett | Olive Branch | |||||
| 1988 | Dana Michele Richmond | Madison | 20 | 4th runner-up |
| ||
| 1987 | Katharine Clare "Kathy" Manning | Drew | 24 | Semi-finalist |
| ||
| 1986 | Cindy Jane 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 Frances Kimbrough | Oxford | 4th runner-up | ||||
| 1978 | Wanda Gatlin | ||||||
| 1977 | Leigh Tapley | Jackson | |||||
| 1976 | Teresa Camp | ||||||
| 1975 | Leigh Ann Cross | Hernando | |||||
| 1974 | Denise Clark | ||||||
| 1973 | Karen Clements | ||||||
| 1972 | Deborah Lynn Pawlik | ||||||
| 1971 | Janey Diane Gillis | ||||||
| 1970 | Susan Marsha Ladner[8] | Pass Christian | |||||
| 1969 | Rose Marie Ray[9] | ||||||
| 1968 | Brenda Kay Conerly | ||||||
| 1967 | Lassie Cooke | ||||||
| 1966 | Jane Sutherland[10] | ||||||
| 1965 | Madeline Carol Scarbrough | ||||||
| 1964 | Patricia Ann Turk | Semi-finalist | |||||
| 1963 | Joan Elizabeth Kinnebrew | 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 Wynn Morgan |
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| 1952 | Carolyn Jeanette Thomas | 20 |
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1 Age at the time of the Miss USA pageant