Miss Teen USA 1986

Miss Teen USA 1986, the 4th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida on January 21, 1986. At the conclusion of the final competition, Allison Brown of Oklahoma was crowned by outgoing queen Kelly Hu of Hawaii.

WWW missteenusa.com

Background

Daytona Beach was announced as the host city for the 1986 pageant in November 1985. This marked the first time the pageant was held in Daytona Beach, although it had previously been staged in Florida twice: in Lakeland in 1983, the pageant's inaugural year, and in Miami in 1985. The Volusia County Council committed up to $100,000 in county money in its bid to host the pageant, in return for a promised 18 minutes of promotional footage during the broadcast. The decision was criticised by feminists who criticised the county's decision to spend money on the pageant.

Event

Contestants spent three weeks in the Daytona Beach area preparing to compete for the title. The pageant was hosted by Michael Young, the host from 1983 to 1984 who returned from hosting after a break in 1985. Colour commentary was provided by Morgan Brittany, and there was entertainment from The Commodores, the Solid Gold Dancers and "The Golden Boys of the Bandstand", Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon and Fabian.

Results

Placements

The 1986 pageant results were:

Final results	Contestant
Miss Teen USA 1986	Oklahoma – Allison Brown
1st Runner-Up	Texas – Rebecca "Becky" Pestana
2nd Runner-Up	New York – Claudia Liem
3rd Runner-Up	Virginia – Angela Thigpen
4th Runner-Up	South Dakota – Valerie Marsden
Top 10	Florida – Stefanie Smith Louisiana – Shasta St. Angelo New Jersey – Rosalie Cecilia Cuozzo New Mexico – Kerali Hansen West Virginia – Jody Caldwell

Judges

The celebrity panel of judges comprised the following:

Beverly Sassoon – actress and author, wife of Vidal Sassoon
Tim Foli – coach of the Texas Rangers
Susan Richardson – actress, Eight is Enough
Henry Polic II – actor, Webster
Beverly Johnson – international model
Allen Fawcett – presenter of Puttin' on the Hits
Randy Ronsfeld – editor of 16 Magazine
Marj Dusay – actress, Capitol
Bobby To – fashion designer
Cherise Haugen – Miss Teen USA 1984
Hinton Battle – Broadway dancer

Delegates

The Miss Teen USA 1986 delegates were:

	Contestant	Age	Hometown	Placement/Award	Notes	Ref.
Alabama	Dell McGhee	18	Alexander City
Alaska	Bobbie Mitchell	17	Fairbanks
Arizona	Kristi Vanney	16	Tempe	Miss Photogenic
Arkansas	Dana Moody	17	Desha	Miss Congeniality
California	Michelle Low	17	Ontario
Colorado	Raeann Durkee
Connecticut	Karen Zawacki	17	Danbury
Delaware	Laura Hawthorne	17	Wilmington
District of Columbia	Melissa Gilbert	17	Washington, D.C.
Florida	Stefanie Smith	16	Jacksonville	Semi-finalist
Georgia	Wendy Neuendorf	16	Dunwoody		Later Miss Alabama 1991
Hawaii	Michelle Hardin
Idaho	Kathryn Comba	16	Boise
Illinois	Dyann Lowery	18	Sandwich
Indiana	Danielle Wayne	17	Portage
Iowa	Kristin Hudson		Des Moines
Kansas	Kimberlee Girrens	16	Wichita		Later Miss Kansas USA 1992 and top six at Miss USA 1992
Kentucky	Amy Miller
Louisiana	Shasta St Angelo	16		Semi-finalist
Maine	Linda Marie Kiene				Later Miss Maine USA 1992
Maryland	Julie Stanford				Later Miss Maryland USA 1990
Massachusetts	Michelle King		Manchester
Michigan	Terri Turner		Clawson
Minnesota	Jennifer Gessell		Bloomington
Mississippi	Michele Fouché		Jackson
Missouri	Jennifer Tangora
Montana	Camille "Kami" Kostelecky	17	Bozeman
Nebraska	Elizabeth Feige	17	LaVista
Nevada	Wendi Stewart
New Hampshire	Diane Dothan
New Jersey	Rosalie Cuozzo	17	Colts Neck	Semi-finalist
New Mexico	Kerali Hansen	17	Las Cruces	Semi-finalist
New York	Claudia Liem	15	Glendale	2nd runner-up
North Carolina	Denise Jenkins	16	Wilmington
North Dakota	Shannon Kaiser	16	Williston
Ohio	Michele Beane	15	Englewood
Oklahoma	Allison Brown	17	Edmond	Miss Teen USA
Oregon	Danna Christiansen	17	Oregon City
Pennsylvania	Melissa Forlini	15	Reading	Best state costume
Rhode Island	Corrine "Lori" Damiani	17	Cranston
South Carolina	Angela Shuler	17	Fort Mill		Later Miss South Carolina USA 1989
South Dakota	Valerie Marsden	17	Rapid City	4th runner-up
Tennessee	Wendy Laws	16	Elizabethton
Texas	Rebecca "Becky" Pestana		San Antonio	1st runner-up
Utah	Michelle Montgomery	17
Vermont	Holly Matava	16	Brattleboro
Virginia	Angela Thigpen	15	Portsmouth	3rd runner-up
Washington	Lisa Elliott	17	Snohomish
West Virginia	Jody Caldwell	15		Semi-finalist
Wisconsin	Lanae St. John	16	La Crosse
Wyoming	Julie Henry	16	Gillette