Miss Minnesota


The Miss Minnesota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss America pageant. Women from Minnesota have won the Miss America crown on three occasions. The most recent winner was Gretchen Carlson in 1989.
Emma Vrieze of Park Rapids was crowned Miss Minnesota 2025 on June 20, 2025, at the Treasure Island Resort & Casino in Welch, Minnesota. She competed for the title of Miss America 2026.

Results summary

The following is a visual summary of the past results of Miss Minnesota titleholders at the national Miss America pageants/competitions. The year in parentheses indicates the year of the national competition during which a placement and/or award was garnered, not the year attached to the contestant's state title.

Placements

Miss America: BeBe Shopp, Dorothy Benham, Gretchen Carlson 1st runners-up: Elaine Campbell 2nd runners-up: N/A3rd runners-up: Lauren Susan Green 4th runners-up: Arlene Anderson, Nancee Parkinson, Barbara Hasselberg, Judy Mendenhall, Rebecca Yeh Top 10: Florence Hunton, Charlotte Sims, Sheila Bernhagen, Laurie Saarinen Top 12: Patricia Cummings Top 15: Lucille McGinty, Marion Rudeen, Gloria Burkhart, Michaelene Karlen

Awards

Preliminary awards

Preliminary Lifestyle and Fitness: BeBe Shopp, Nancee Parkinson, Judy Mendenhall, Dorothy Benham, Sue Erickson, Debra Goodwin Preliminary Talent: Marion Rudeen, Arlene Anderson, Elaine Campbell, Gloria Burkhart, Barbara Hasselberg, Judy Mendenhall, Dorothy Benham, Lauren Susan Green, Gretchen Carlson, Rebecca Yeh, Brianna Drevlow

Non-finalist awards

Non-finalist Talent: Keri Thorne, Debra Goodwin, Jo Bender, Shawna Deeann Stoltenberg, Jennifer Ostergaard, Karyn Stordahl, Nicole Swanson, Brooke Kilgarriff, Kathryn Knuttila, Brianna Drevlow

Other awards

Miss Congeniality: Madeline Van Ert Louanne Gamba Instrumental Award: Kathryn Knuttila, Rebecca Yeh Miss America award winners#Jean Bartel [Quality of Life / Social Impact Initiative Scholarship award|Quality of Life Award] Winners: Jennifer Ostergaard Quality of Life Award Finalists: Jennifer Hudspeth, Brooke Kilgarriff, Kathryn Knuttila, Natalie Davis, Brianna Drevlow
  • STEM Scholarship Finalist: Gabrielle "Elle" Mark Waterford Business Management & Marketing Award: Paula Knoll