# Miss USA 2017

Miss USA 2017 was the 66th edition of the Miss USA pageant, held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 14, 2017.
Deshauna Barber of the District of Columbia crowned her successor Kára McCullough, also of the District of Columbia, at the end of the event. This was District of Columbia's fourth Miss USA title, and also this was the first time since 2008 to have a second consecutive African Americans have been crowned. McCullough represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2017 competition, placed in the top 10. This is the first back to back win for a state at Miss USA since Texas won the crown in 1988 and 1989.

## Background
### Selection of participants

Delegates from 50 states and the District of Columbia were selected in state pageants began in July 2016 and ended in February 2017. The first state pageant was Florida, held on July 16, 2016, and the final pageant was Alaska, held on February 4, 2017; eight of them were former Miss Teen USA state winners, three of them were former Miss America state titleholders and one of them was a former Miss America's Outstanding Teen state titleholder.
One state titleholder was appointed as replacement after the original titleholder was unable to compete. Génesis Dávila was the original winner of Miss Florida USA 2017, she was disqualified shortly after winning the title and was revealed she hired professional makeup artists instead by to do herself. She was replaced by Linette De Los Santos, the first runner-up of Miss Florida USA 2017 pageant. Dávila would later win the title the following year and competed in Miss USA 2018.

## Results

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss USA 2017 | District of Columbia – Kára McCullough |
| 1st Runner-Up | New Jersey – Chhavi Verg |
| 2nd Runner-Up | Minnesota – Meridith Gould |
| Top 5 | Illinois – Whitney Wandland  South Carolina – Megan Gordon |
| Top 10 | Alaska – Alyssa London  California – India Williams  Missouri – Bayleigh Dayton  New York – Hannah Lopa  Tennessee – Allee-Sutton Hethcoat |

### Awards

| Award | Contestant |
| Miss Congeniality | Missouri – Bayleigh Dayton Wyoming – Mikaela Shaw |

## Pageant
### Preliminary competition

Prior to the final competition, the delegates compete in the preliminary competition, which involves private interviews with the judges and a presentation show where they compete in swimsuit and evening gown. It was held on May 11, 2017 on the official Miss USA YouTube channel and was hosted by Entertainment reporter and Miss Wisconsin USA 2009 Alex Wehrley and Deshauna Barber.

#### Judges

* Halima Aden – Somali-American model and first woman to compete in a Miss USA state pageant wearing a hijab and burkini
* Maura McGreevy – IMG corporate community
* Carole Gist – Miss USA 1990
* Nancy Lublin – CEO of Crisis Text Line
* Brook Lee – Miss USA 1997 and Miss Universe 1997
* Nick Light – Vice president of Sony Music and Warner Bros. Records
* Vanessa Gringer – Director of business development at IMG

### Finals

For the first time since 2003, the number of finalists decreased to 10 from 15 in the previous year. The top 10 finalists compete in both swimsuit and evening gown, while the top 5 are in a qualifying question, and the final 3 are subjected in the final question round and a final runway, the winner is decided by a panel of judges.

#### Judges

* Halima Aden – Somali-American model and first woman to compete in a Miss USA state pageant wearing a hijab and burkini
* Carson Kressley – TV personality, style expert, fashion designer and author
* Brook Lee – Miss USA 1997 and Miss Universe 1997
* Nancy Lublin – Founder of Dress for Success
* Jeannie Mai – Style expert, philanthropist, and co-host of The Real
* Janet Mock – Author, television host and advocate

## Contestants

Contestant stats provided via the Miss Universe Organization.
| State/district | Name | Age | Hometown | Placement | Notes |
| Alabama | Baylee Smith | 20 | Tuscaloosa | | |
| Alaska | Alyssa London | 27 | Anchorage | Top 10 | First Tlingit Miss Alaska USA |
| Arizona | Tommy Lynn Calhoun | 27 | Tucson | | |
| Arkansas | Arynn Johnson | 20 | Hot Springs | | Previously Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2015 |
| California | India Williams | 20 | Lafayette | Top 10 | |
| Colorado | Sabrina Janssen | 21 | Denver | | |
| Connecticut | Olga Litvinenko | 27 | Greenwich | | Previously Miss Connecticut Teen USA 2007 |
| Delaware | Mia Jones | 21 | Bear | | Previously Miss Delaware Teen USA 2014 |
| District of Columbia | Kára McCullough | 25 | Washington, D.C. | Miss USA 2017 | |
| Florida | Linette De Los Santos | 25 | Miami | | |
| Georgia | DeAnna Johnson | 21 | Hazlehurst | | Top 10 finalist on season eight of The Voice |
| Hawaii | Julie Kuo | 23 | Honolulu | | |
| Idaho | Cassie Lewis | 26 | Moscow | | |
| Illinois | Whitney Wandland | 25 | Chicago | Top 5 | Chicago Bulls Luvabull |
| Indiana | Brittany Winchester | 27 | Indianapolis | | |
| Iowa | Kelsey Weier | 26 | West Des Moines | | Contestant on season 24 of The Bachelor and season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise |
| Kansas | Catherine Carmichael | 26 | Manhattan | | Previously Miss Kansas World America 2015 |
| Kentucky | Madelynne Myers | 22 | Louisville | | |
| Louisiana | Bethany Trahan | 21 | Lake Charles | | |
| Maine | Brooke Harris | 26 | Lee | | |
| Maryland | Adrianna David | 22 | Rockville | | Later Miss Maryland 2018 |
| Massachusetts | Julia Scaparotti | 24 | Peabody | | New England Patriots Cheerleader Later a contestant on Game of Clones and Beat Shazam |
| Michigan | Krista Ferguson | 24 | Detroit | | |
| Minnesota | Meridith Gould | 22 | Minneapolis | 2nd Runner-up | Previously Miss South Dakota's Outstanding Teen 2012 Previously Miss South Dakota 2014 |
| Mississippi | Ashley Hamby | 24 | Madison | | |
| Missouri | Bayleigh Dayton | 23 | Lee's Summit | Top 10 | First African-American Miss Missouri USA Later a HouseGuest on Big Brother 20 |
| Montana | Brooke Bezanson | 20 | Missoula | | |
| Nebraska | Jasmine Fuelberth | 20 | Norfolk | | Previously Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2013 |
| Nevada | Lauren York | 23 | Primm | | |
| New Hampshire | Sarah Mousseau | 26 | Portsmouth | | |
| New Jersey | Chhavi Verg | 20 | Edison | 1st Runner-up | |
| New Mexico | Ashley Mora | 25 | Albuquerque | | Previously Miss New Mexico World 2015 |
| New York | Hannah Lopa | 25 | Spencerport | Top 10 | |
| North Carolina | Katie Coble | 27 | Charlotte | | Previously Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2007 |
| North Dakota | Raquel Wellentin | 24 | Fargo | | |
| Ohio | Dinaleigh Baxter | 24 | Winchester | | |
| Oklahoma | Alex Smith | 20 | Mooreland | | |
| Oregon | Elizabeth Denny | 26 | Roseburg | | |
| Pennsylvania | Cassandra Angst | 23 | Feasterville | | |
| Rhode Island | Kelsey Swanson | 23 | Cranston | | |
| South Carolina | Megan Gordon | 23 | North Augusta | Top 5 | Later Miss South Carolina World 2019 |
| South Dakota | Tessa Dee | 26 | Mitchell | | Previously Miss South Dakota 2013 |
| Tennessee | Allee-Sutton Hethcoat | 25 | Franklin | Top 10 | |
| Texas | Nancy Gonzalez | 27 | Freeport | | |
| Utah | Baylee Jensen | 23 | South Jordan | | Daughter of Miss USA 1989 Gretchen Polhemus |
| Vermont | Madison Cota | 21 | Bellows Falls | | Previously Miss Vermont Teen USA 2014 |
| Virginia | Jacqueline Carroll | 23 | Stanardsville | | Previously Miss Virginia Teen USA 2010 |
| Washington | Alex Carlson-Helo | 23 | Mill Creek | | Previously Miss Washington Teen USA 2012 |
| West Virginia | Lauren Roush | 22 | Mason | | Later a contestant of Are You the One? season 7 Later Miss Pennsylvania World 2019 |
| Wisconsin | Skylar Witte | 19 | Schofield | | |
| Wyoming | Mikaela Shaw | 23 | Casper | | Previously Miss Wyoming 2015 |

## International broadcasters
### Television

* United States: Fox
* Africa: DSTV Mzansi Magic (delayed broadcast)
* Asia-Pacific: Star World
* Venezuela: Venevisión

## General references

* "Miss USA 2017 Results". missuniverse.com. IMG Universe. May 15, 2017. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.