Miss USA 1985 (Jayverse)
Miss USA 1985, the 34th Miss USA pageant, was televised live from the Lakeland Civic Auditorium in Lakeland, Florida on May 13, 1985, in honor of the city's centennial anniversary with a special cameo appearance by Mayor Thomas R. Shaw. At the conclusion of the final competition, Laura Harring of Texas was crowned Miss USA 1985 by outgoing titleholder Mai Shanley of New Mexico.
Harring was the first Latina to win the crown. She later became an actress, appearing in a number of films including Mulholland Drive and as John Travolta's wife in The Punisher.
The Pageant was aired UBC (USA) and CTV (Canada) and is hosted by Jim Perry with Joan Van Ark and Miss Canada 1981 Dominique Dufour
Results
Placements
| Final results | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss USA 1985 |
|
| 1st runner-up & Miss World USA 1985 |
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| 2nd runner-up |
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| 3rd runner-up |
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| 4th runner-up |
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| Top 10 |
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Final Competition
| State | Preliminary
Average |
Interview | Swimsuit | Evening Gown | Semifinal Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 9.140 (1) | 9.155 (3) | 9.222 (1) | 9.466 (1) | 9.281 (1) |
| New Mexico | 8.881 (2) | 8.822 (6) | 9.177 (2) | 9.111 (2) | 9.036 (4) |
| Illinois | 8.558 (7) | 9.288 (2) | 9.033 (5) | 8.833 (10) | 9.051 (3) |
| Louisiana | 8.597 (5) | 9.311 (1) | 9.100 (3) | 9.033 (5) | 9.148 (2) |
| Minnesota | 8.536 (9) | 8.855 (5) | 9.066 (4) | 9.033 (5) | 8.984 (5) |
| Arizona | 8.536 (9) | 8.611 (9) | 9.012 (6) | 9.100 (3) | 8.907 (6) |
| Missouri | 8.562 (6) | 8.722 (7) | 8.955 (7) | 8.866 (8) | 8.847 (7) |
| Hawaii | 8.544 (8) | 8.900 (4) | 8.688 (9) | 8.933 (7) | 8.840 (8) |
| Massachusetts | 8.721 (4) | 8.700 (8) | 8.788 (8) | 8.855 (9) | 8.781 (9) |
| Oklahoma | 8.870 (3) | 8.611 (9) | 8.677 (10) | 9.044 (4) | 8.777 (10) |
Delegates and Troupe
The Miss USA 1985 delegates were:
| State | Name | Hometown | Age1 | Height | Placement | Awards | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Allison Sawyer | Birmingham | 20 | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||
| Alaska | Kari Moore | Fairbanks | 18 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | |||
| Arizona | Michelle Ducote | Tempe | 22 | 5 ft 10 1⁄2 in (179 cm) | Top 10 | ||
| Arkansas | Susan Dean | Osceola | 23 | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||
| California | Zina Ponder | Long Beach | 22 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Colorado | Lynnette Jessen | Denver | 23 | 5 ft 8 1⁄2 in (174 cm) | Previously Miss Colorado 1981 | ||
| Connecticut | Adrianne Hazelwood | Hamden | 18 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | Previously Miss Wisconsin Teen USA 1984 | ||
| Delaware | Sheila Saints | Wilmington | 21 | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) | |||
| District of Columbia | Christal Chacon | Washington, D.C. | 18 | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||
| Florida | Barbi Losh | North Miami Beach | 21 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Georgia | Amanda Smith | Smyrna | 24 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | |||
| Hawaii | Tina Machado | Honolulu | 25 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | Top 10 | ||
| Idaho | Sheri Rose | Boise | 24 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | |||
| Illinois | Laura Bach | Elmhurst | 23 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | 2nd runner-up | ||
| Indiana | Theresa Hobbs | Bloomington | 23 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Iowa | Devin Steinberg | Manson | 21 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Kansas | Jill Denzin | Leawood | 21 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Kentucky | Robyn Overbey | Calvert City | 24 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | Miss Photogenic | ||
| Louisiana | Sarie Joubert | Shreveport | 22 | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | 3rd runner-up | ||
| Maine | Tracie Samara | Portland | 22 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Maryland | Christine Marie | Baldwin | 20 | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | |||
| Massachusetts | Mercedes Waggoner | Boston | 21 | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) | Top 10 | ||
| Michigan | Nancy Mazuro | Washington | 17 | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | |||
| Minnesota | Kari Lee Johnson | Minneapolis | 20 | 5 ft 8 1⁄2 in (174 cm) | 4th runner-up | ||
| Mississippi | Camille Gilliland | Meridian | 19 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Missouri | Amy Coverdale | Columbia | 22 | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | Top 10 | ||
| Montana | Julie Knox | Bozeman | 19 | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | |||
| Nebraska | Lori Straight | Omaha | 20 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Nevada | Alicia Berger | Las Vegas | 19 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | Entertainment reporter for KVBC-DT and regular contributor for Access Hollywood | ||
| New Hampshire | Janice LaCroix | Manchester | 21 | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | |||
| New Jersey | Francie Knapp | Linwood | 24 | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||
| New Mexico | Brenda Denton | Hobbs | 21 | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | 1st runner-up | Represented the United States in Miss World 1985 where she placed as Second Runner Up | |
| New York | Lovey King | Yonkers | 20 | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||
| North Carolina | Kate Kenney | Raleigh | 23 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| North Dakota | Regina Schatz | Fargo | 22 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | |||
| Ohio | Lisa Barlow | Vandalia | 22 | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | |||
| Oklahoma | Sophia Henderson | Tulsa | 21 | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | Top 10 | ||
| Oregon | Jodi Unruh | Eugene | 20 | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) | |||
| Pennsylvania | Sandi Ferguson | Jefferson Hills | 18 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | |||
| Rhode Island | Dana Wilson | Riverside | 21 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| South Carolina | Ann Margarete Hughes | Summerville | 23 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| South Dakota | Stacey Arnold | Rapid City | 21 | 5 ft 5 1⁄2 in (166 cm) | |||
| Tennessee | Marty Browning | Chattanooga | 24 | 5 ft 5 1⁄2 in (166 cm) | Miss Congeniality | First deaf Miss USA contestant. | |
| Texas | Laura Harring | El Paso | 21 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | Winner | Born in Mexico | |
| Utah | Kim Thompson | Salt Lake City | 18 | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | |||
| Vermont | Angie Cummingham | Rutland | 20 | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | |||
| Virginia | Dana Bryant | Richmond | 18 | 5 ft 7 1⁄2 in (171 cm) | |||
| Washington | Sherry Rials | Bellevue | 23 | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | |||
| West Virginia | Lorre Lewis | Barboursville | 20 | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) | |||
| Wisconsin | Deborah Lynn Strauss | Thiensville | 22 | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | |||
| Wyoming | Wendy Hartwigsen | Gillette | 19 | 5 ft 10 1⁄2 in (179 cm) |
The Troupe in this years pageant who had sang and danced but didn't compete include Kathy Rosenwinkel (who finished 2nd Runner Up in the 1985 Miss Florida USA Pageant and went on to win the 1986 Miss Florida USA Title) along with Colleen Geraghty (1st Runner Up at Miss Florida USA 1985) along with Semi-FInalists, Angela Overstreet, Cindy Peal, Dianna Austin, Erin Murphy, Jill Kuhfeld, Kelly Kappel, Kim Roman, Lisa Wilkinson, Patee Hester, Sandra Porterfield, Sharon Ennes and Vonda Flowers, 3 Runner Ups in the 1985 Miss Texas USA Pageant (Tonya Beddingfield, Karla Self & Leigh Ann Medaris) along with a couple Miss Texas USA Contestants from that pageant (including Christi Deakin who won Best in Swimsuit in the 1985 Miss Texas USA Pageant) among others as well as a Handful of 1985 Miss Teen USA Contestants including Miss Teen USA 1985, Kelly Hu (Representing Hawaii) in which she performed in the Troupe rather than Competing for the Title of Miss USA that year, however Kelly went on to Represent Hawaii in the 1993 Miss USA Pageant which took place in Wichita, KS and won Miss Photogenic and Made The Top 6 in that pageant as well as a Handful of Miss Canada Contestants in which CTV aired the 1985 Miss USA Pageant including Karen Tilley (who went on to represent Canada in That Year's Miss Universe Pageant in Calgary, AB), Michelle Tambling, Kathrin Nicholson and Tannis Hargrave among others.
Judges
- Breck Jamieson
- Patricia Maxwell
- Rory Calhoun
- Robert Hirschfeld
- Jean Ruth Scott
- Syd Mead
- Jimmy Messina
- Terri Utley, Miss USA 1982 from Arkansas
- Martha Smith
- Eric Dickerson
- Richard Anderson