Miss Minnesota USA
Beauty pageant competition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Miss Minnesota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss USA pageant. It was directed by Future Productions based in Savage, Minnesota since its inception in 1995 to 2024, which also directs the state pageants for Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.[1]
| Formation | 1952 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters | Savage |
| Location | |
| Membership | Miss USA |
Official language | English |
Key people | Kelly McCoy |
| Website | Official website |
Barbara Elaine Peterson was the first Miss Minnesota USA to be crowned Miss USA (in 1976), and was also the first Miss USA to not place in the Miss Universe pageant. Her sister, Polly Peterson Bowles, was Miss Minnesota USA 1981.[2]
In 2016, Halima Aden became the first contestant to compete wearing a burkini, and the first to wear a hijab the entire time.[3] In 2017, Mikayla Holmgren was the first woman with Down syndrome to compete in a statewide Miss USA pageant.[4]
The current titleholder is Megan Rivera of Prior Lake was crowned Miss Minnesota USA on August 10, 2025, at The Franklin Center in Des Moines. She represented Minnesota at Miss USA 2025.
Gallery of titleholders
Barbara Peterson, Miss Minnesota USA 1976 & Miss USA 1976
Kaylee Unverzagt, Miss Minnesota USA 2008
Kalie Wright, Miss Minnesota USA 2018
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Results summary
Placements
- Miss USA: Barbara Peterson (1976)
- 2nd runners-up: Deborah Cossette (1977), Meridith Gould (2017)
- 3rd runner-up: Lanore Van Buren (2002)
- 4th runner-up: Kari Lee Johnson (1985)
- Top 6: Angelique de Maison (1995)
- Top 10/12: Jodell Stirmlinger (1952), Carla Reid Peterson (1980), Jolene Stavrakis (1994), Madeline Helget (2022)
- Top 15/19/20: Mary Ann Papke (1953), Dawn Joyce (1954), Kaylee Unverzagt (2008), Erica Nego (2009), Haley O'Brien (2014), Cat Stanley (2019)
Minnesota holds a record of 16 placements at Miss USA.
Awards
- Miss Congeniality: Elizabeth Jane Carroll (1965), Janet Tveita (1990), Dottie Cannon (2006)
- Miss Photogenic: Paige Swenson (2000), Sarah Cahill (2003)
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 | Special awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Megan Rivera | Prior Lake | 25 | Miss Prior Lake | |||
| 2024 | Muna Ali | Saint Paul | 27 | Miss Minnesota City | |||
| 2023 | Sarah Anderson | Maple Grove | 20 | Miss Maple Grove | |||
| 2022 | Madeline Helget | Clearwater | 24 | Miss Clearwater | Top 12 | ||
| 2021 | Katarina Spasojevic | Minnetonka | 20 | Miss Minnetonka | Shortest reigning Miss Minnesota USA (9 months and 28 days) | ||
| 2020 | Taylor Fondie | Ham Lake | 22 |
| |||
| 2019 | Catherine "Cat" Stanley | Bloomington | 23 | Top 15 |
| ||
| 2018 | Kalie Wright[4] | Eagle Bend | 24 |
| |||
| 2017 | Meridith Gould | Minneapolis | 22 | 2nd Runner-Up |
| ||
| 2016 | Bridget Jacobs | Maple Grove | 20 | ||||
| 2015 | Jessica Scheu | Prior Lake | 23 | ||||
| 2014 | Haley O'Brien | Excelsior | 21 | Top 20 |
| ||
| 2013 | Danielle Hooper[citation needed] | Inver Grove Heights | 20 | ||||
| 2012 | Nitaya Panemalaythong | Savage | 26 | Born in Thailand | |||
| 2011 | Brittany Thelemann | Plymouth | 23 | Cousin of Olivia Herbert, Miss Minnesota Teen USA 2019 | |||
| 2010 | Courtney Basara | Duluth | 20 | ||||
| 2009 | Erica Nego | Plymouth | 24 | Top 15 (12th place) |
| ||
| 2008 | Kaylee Unverzagt | Eagan | 20 | Top 15 (15th place) | |||
| 2007 | Alla Ilushka | Eden Prairie | 22 |
| |||
| 2006 | Dottie Cannon[7] | Eagan | 22 | Miss Congeniality | |||
| 2005 | Carrie Lee | Sebeka | 25 | ||||
| 2004 | Jessica Dereschuk | Stacy | 20 | ||||
| 2003 | Sarah Cahill | Waseca | 24 | Miss Photogenic |
| ||
| 2002 | Lanore Van Buren | Edina | 26 | 3rd Runner-Up | Bluepoint Apparel Swimsuit and Fitness Award | ||
| 2001 | Anne Marie Clausen | Golden Valley | 23 | ||||
| 2000 | Paige Swenson | Fridley | Miss Photogenic |
| |||
| 1999 | Crystal Vandenberg[8] | Brooklyn Center | 19 | ||||
| 1998 | Josan Hengen | Eden Prairie | 19 | ||||
| 1997 | Melissa Hall | Minneapolis | |||||
| 1996 | Karin Smith | Brooklyn Park | 25 | ||||
| 1995 | Angelique de Maison | St. Louis Park | Finalist (5th place) | ||||
| 1994 | Jolene Stravrakis | Burnsville | Semifinalist (10th place) | ||||
| 1993 | Kristi Bennecke[9] | Anoka | |||||
| 1992 | Amber Rue | Minneapolis | |||||
| 1991 | April Ann Herke | Eden Prairie | |||||
| 1990 | Janet Tveita | Minneapolis | Miss Congeniality | ||||
| 1989 | Julie Knutson | Crystal | 22 | ||||
| 1988 | Sue Bolich | Mound | N/A2 | ||||
| Jolene Stavrakis | Apple Valley | N/A2 | |||||
| Julie Nelson | Bloomington | ||||||
| 1987 | Christine Rosenberger | South St. Paul | |||||
| 1986 | Cynthia Jane Peterson | Edina | |||||
| 1985 | Kari Lee Johnson | Minneapolis | 4th Runner-Up | ||||
| 1984 | Martha Mork | Edina | |||||
| 1983 | Carolyn Mattson | New Hope | |||||
| 1982 | Lori Kmetz | New Brighton | |||||
| 1981 | Polly Peterson | Edina | sister of Miss USA 1976 Barbara Peterson | ||||
| 1980 | Carla Reid Peterson | Albert Lea | Top 12[10] | ||||
| 1979 | Cynthia Sue Lee | St. Paul | |||||
| 1978 | Janey Gohl | St. Cloud | |||||
| 1977 | Deborah Cossette | Minneapolis | 2nd Runner-Up | ||||
| 1976 | Barbara Elaine Peterson | Edina | Miss USA 1976 | Non-semi-finalist at Miss Universe 1976 | |||
| 1975 | Dawn Lamotte | St. Paul | |||||
| 1974 | Gayle Johnson | Minneapolis | |||||
| 1973 | Cyndi James | ||||||
| 1972 | Darlene Koskiniemi | Roseville | |||||
| 1971 | Shirley Kittleson | Sherburn | |||||
| 1970 | Sally Strickland | St. Paul | |||||
| 1969 | Laureen Darling | Minneapolis | |||||
| 1968 | Arlene Larson | ||||||
| 1967 | Betty Ann Brewer | Richfield | |||||
| 1966 | Patricia Thatcher | Austin | |||||
| 1965 | Elizabeth Jane Carroll | Bloomington | Miss Congeniality | ||||
| 1960-64 | No Representative | ||||||
| 1959 | Muriel Fairbanks | Minneapolis | |||||
| 1958 | Sue Bouchard | ||||||
| 1957 | Mary Margaret Ford | ||||||
| 1956 | Marilyn Johnson | ||||||
| 1955 | Sally Ann Colombo | Stillwater | |||||
| 1954 | Dawn Joyce | Minneapolis | Semifinalist (Top 19) | ||||
| 1953 | Mary Ann Papke | Semifinalist (Top 20) | |||||
| 1952 | Jodell Stirmlinger | St. Paul | Semifinalist (Top 10) | ||||
1 Age at the time of the Miss USA pageant
2 Contestant resigned title before the Miss USA pageant