# Miss America 1980

Miss America 1980, the 53rd Miss America pageant, was televised from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 8, 1979 by the NBC Television Network. Cheryl Prewitt was the third woman from Mississippi to win the title. She was crowned by Kylene Barker of Virginia, Miss America 1979.

## Results
### Placements

| Placement | Contestant |
| Miss America 1980 | Mississippi – Cheryl Prewitt |
| 1st Runner-Up | Ohio – Tana Kay Carli |
| 2nd Runner-Up | Kansas – Michelle Elaine Whitson |
| 3rd Runner-Up | Missouri – Susan Wilson |
| 4th Runner-Up | Florida – Marti Sue Phillips |
| Top 10 | Arizona – Pam Wenzel  Iowa – Lori Jean Froeling  New York – Kelli Diane Krull  Pennsylvania – Carolyn Louise Black  West Virginia – Deborah Davis |

### Awards
#### Preliminary awards

| Awards | Contestant |
| Lifestyle and Fitness | Maryland - Shelly Meg Peiken Mississippi - Cheryl Prewitt North Carolina - Monta Anne Maki |
| Talent | Arizona - Pam Wenzel New York - Kelli Diane Krull Ohio - Tana Kay Carli |

#### Non-finalist awards

| Awards | Contestant |
| Talent | Alabama - Kathy Jo Pickett Georgia - Sandra Eakes Louisiana - Myrrah Monroe McCully Michigan - Bethany Jane Wright North Dakota - Daureen Podenski Oklahoma - Jill Elmore South Dakota - Julie Kay Kleinsasser Tennessee - Elise Neal |

## Contestants

| State | Name | Hometown | Age | Talent | Placement | Special Awards | Notes |
| Alabama | Kathy Pickett | Mulga | 26 | Classical Vocal, "Sempre Libera" from La Traviata | | Non-finalist Talent Award | |
| Alaska | Lila Oberg | Palmer | 19 | Vocal, "For Once in My Life" | | | |
| Arizona | Pam Wenzel | Phoenix | 22 | Acrobatic Gymnastic Dance, Theme from The Children of Sanchez | Top 10 | Preliminary Talent Award | |
| Arkansas | Janet Holman | North Little Rock | 22 | Vocal, "Somewhere" | | | |
| California | Deanna Rae Fogarty | Azusa | 22 | Vocal, "Cabaret" | | | |
| Colorado | Sheliah Wilkins | Denver | 23 | Classical Vocal, "Quando me'n vo'" | | | |
| Connecticut | Laura Kaufmann | Enfield | 18 | Interpretive Modern Jazz Dance | | | |
| Delaware | Ann Lorraine Harrington | Milford | 22 | Magic Act | | | |
| Florida | Marti Sue Phillips | Tampa | 22 | Jazz Clarinet Medley, Rhapsody in Blue & "Begin the Beguine" | 4th runner-up | | |
| Georgia | Sandra Eakes | Warner Robins | 22 | Popular Vocal, "The Trolley Song" & "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" | | Non-finalist Talent Award | Sister of Miss Georgia 1982, Bobbie Eakes |
| Hawaii | Sheron Lehuanani Bissen | Kahului | 20 | Vocal, "Over the Rainbow" | | | |
| Idaho | Gladys Steele | Boise | 22 | Violin, "Polish Dance" | | | |
| Illinois | Elizabeth Russell | Pekin | 20 | Classical Vocal, "O Luce di Quest'Anima" from Linda di Chamounix | | | |
| Indiana | Rickee Farrell | Valparaiso | 18 | Acrobatic Dance, "Sweet Charity" | | | |
| Iowa | Lori Froeling | Keokuk | 20 | Flute, "Carnival of Venice" | Top 10 | | |
| Kansas | Michelle Elaine Whitson | Mission | 21 | Harp, "Never on Sunday" | 2nd runner-up | | Previously National Sweetheart 1978 |
| Kentucky | Kathryn Parker | Wilmore | 21 | Flute, "The Swiss Shepherd's Song" | | | |
| Louisiana | Myrrah McCully | Monroe | 24 | Piano, "Piano Concerto in D-flat major" by Aram Khachaturian | | Non-finalist Talent Award | |
| Maine | Jill O'Brien | Bangor | 22 | Ballet, "Irish Suite" | | | |
| Maryland | Shelly Meg Peiken | Greenbelt | 22 | Self-Composed Vocal, "Carry Me Home" | | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award | |
| Massachusetts | Lisa Matta | Brockton | 20 | Jazz Dance, "Slow Dancing" | | | |
| Michigan | Bethany Jane Wright | Saginaw | 19 | Vocal, "The Music and the Mirror" from A Chorus Line | | Non-finalist Talent Award | |
| Minnesota | Debra Ann Nerby | Rochester | 24 | Vocal, "Who Can I Turn To?" | | | |
| Mississippi | Cheryl Prewitt | Ackerman | 22 | Vocal/Piano, "Don't Cry Out Loud" | Winner | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award | |
| Missouri | Susan Wilson | Columbia | 21 | Piano, Fantaisie-Impromptu | 3rd runner-up | | |
| Montana | Lori Conlon | Billings | 20 | Piano, "Toccata" | | | |
| Nebraska | Kathryn Ann Saathoff | Fremont | 21 | Vocal, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" | | | |
| Nevada | Jeanne Cangemi | North Lake Tahoe | 22 | Classical & Jazz Saxophone, "Harlem Nocturne" & "Csárdás" | | | |
| New Hampshire | Monica Skiathitis | Manchester | 20 | Tap Dance, "Sweet Georgia Brown" | | | Previously New Hampshire's Junior Miss 1976 |
| New Jersey | Mary McGinnis | Somers Point | 22 | Clarinet, "Hora" | | | |
| New Mexico | Susan Spartz | Alamogordo | 18 | Vocal, "My Man" | | | |
| New York | Kelli Krull | Buffalo | 21 | Baton Twirling Exhibition, "If My Friends Could See Me Now" | Top 10 | Preliminary Talent Award | |
| North Carolina | Monta Maki | Hickory | 23 | Vocal, "You Light Up My Life" | | Preliminary Lifestyle & Fitness Award | |
| North Dakota | Daureen Podenski | Edgeley | 22 | Classical Vocal, "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca | | Non-finalist Talent Award | |
| Ohio | Tana Carli | Lakewood | 23 | Accordion Medley, "Tea for Two" & "Dizzy Fingers" | 1st runner-up | Preliminary Talent Award | |
| Oklahoma | Jill Elmore | Tulsa | 23 | Classical Vocal, "Art is Calling for Me" from The Enchantress by Victor Herbert | | Non-finalist Talent Award | |
| Oregon | Tami Sanders | Roseburg | 21 | Gymnastic Dance, "A Fifth of Beethoven" | | | |
| Pennsylvania | Carolyn Louise Black | Elizabethtown | 22 | Vocal, "All the Things You Are" | Top 10 | | |
| Rhode Island | Elaine Rushlow | Westerly | 20 | Piano, "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" | | | |
| South Carolina | Jane Jenkins | Johns Island | 23 | Vocal Medley, "The Party's Over" & "Send in the Clowns" | | | Author of Bare Feet to High Heels, What Ta Tas Teach Us, and "Bury Me with My Pearls" |
| South Dakota | Julie Kleinsasser | Freeman | 19 | Popular Vocal, "Cry" | | Non-finalist Talent Award | |
| Tennessee | Elise Neal | Paris | 21 | Piano, "Prelude in C minor" by Rachmaninoff | | Non-finalist Talent Award | |
| Texas | Lex Ann Haughey | Hurst | 20 | Flute, "Flight of the Bumblebee" & "Flight '76" by Walter Murphy | | | |
| Utah | Karen L. Brimley | Layton | 19 | Semi-classical Vocal, "Love is Where You Find It" | | | |
| Vermont | Shari Bach | Middlebury | 22 | Classical Piano, Holberg Suite | | | |
| Virginia | Darlene McIntosh | Chesapeake | 22 | Classical Piano, "Prelude in C-sharp minor" | | | |
| Washington | Janelle Martz | Normandy Park | 22 | Classical Piano, "Piano Concerto in A Minor" by Edvard Grieg | | | |
| West Virginia | Deborah Davis | Huntington | 22 | Vocal Medley, "He Touched Me" from Drat! The Cat! & "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret | Top 10 | | Previously Miss West Virginia USA 1978 Later Mrs. America 1984 1st runner-up at Mrs. World 1984 |
| Wisconsin | Kristine Konrad | Oshkosh | 19 | Vocal, "Starting Here, Starting Now" | | | |
| Wyoming | Karla Singer | Cheyenne | 19 | Vocal, "Mister Melody" | | | |