Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Miss Teen USA 2002

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Date
  
August 28, 2002

Broadcaster
  
CBS, KGBT-TV

Entertainment
  
Play Bow Wow

Miss Teen USA 2002

Presenters
  
Willa Ford Chris Kirkpatrick

Venue
  
South Padre Island Convention Centre, South Padre Island, Texas

Winner
  
Vanessa Marie Semrow Wisconsin

Miss Teen USA 2002, the 20th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from South Padre Island, Texas on 28 August 2002. At the conclusion of the final competition, Miss Wisconsin Teen USA Vanessa Marie Semrow was crowned by outgoing queen Marissa Whitley of Missouri.

Contents

This was the second consecutive year that the pageant was held on South Padre Island, although it had also been held there in 1997.

Semrow was only the second teenager from Wisconsin to place in the pageant, and the first to win the title. The state's previous placement was in 1984.

In the years after the pageant, two delegates who competed at Miss Teen USA 2002 went on to win the Miss USA title. The class of 2002 is the first to produce two Miss USA winners. The first was Tara Conner of Kentucky, who placed second runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2002 and won the Miss USA 2006 pageant; she was followed by Rachel Smith of Tennessee (semi-finalist and Miss Photogenic at Miss Teen USA) who won Miss USA 2007. Both placed fourth runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant. A third contestant, fourth runner-up Kimberly Harlan of Georgia, competed at Miss World 2003 but did not place.

Special awards

  • Miss Congeniality: Austen Brown (South Carolina)
  • Miss Photogenic: Rachel Smith (Tennessee)
  • Best in Swimsuit: Tara Conner (Kentucky)
  • Historical significance

  • Wisconsin, Connecticut and Minnesota placed for only the second time, Rhode Island placed for the third time. Rhode Island last placed in 1992, when Shanna Moakler made the semi-finals. Wisconsin last placed in 1984, Connecticut in 1993, and Minnesota in 1995.
  • Georgia placed for the third consecutive year, the first time this had occurred.
  • It was the second time in three years that Miss Kentucky Teen USA placed second runner-up.
  • Rachel Smith (Miss USA 2007) became the second Tennessee teen to win Miss Photogenic. The first Tennessee teen to win the title was Lynnette Cole in 1995 who also went on to win the Miss USA 2000 title. Smith went on to follow her footsteps and win Miss USA 2007,eight years later.
  • In a rare occurrence, Tara Conner won Miss USA 2006. She then crowned a fellow Miss Teen USA 2002 contestant, Rachel Smith (Miss USA 2007), as her successor.
  • Delegates

    The Miss Teen USA 2002 delegates were:

    Judges

  • Chris Beckman
  • Sam Levine
  • Maria Menounos
  • Paige Mycoskie
  • Cyndi Thomson
  • Jordi Vilasuso
  • Cherise Vonae Shulman
  • Ben Wentworth III
  • References

    Miss Teen USA 2002 Wikipedia