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 Utah's Stevens gains America's Choice nod during Miss America finale By Staff Sgt. Rebecca Doucette
                National Guard Bureau
 LAS VEGAS, NV. - Utah Army National Guard Sgt. Jill Stevens' quest to capture the crown as the 80th Miss America ended with a flurry of pushups on the stage of the nationally-televised pageant Saturday, Jan. 26. Stevens, Miss Utah, immediately assumed the front leaning rest position and gave the audience at least 10 pushups after host Mark Steines announced that she would not be one of the evening's 10 finalists. Other contestants joined "GI Jill" during the brief demonstration of upper-body strength. She did, however, find satisfaction from winning the America's Choice part of the competition which made her one of the 16 initial finalists. A panel of celebrity judges eliminated her and five others following the swimsuit competition, the first event during the final night of the pageant televised live on cable's TLC. "I think it made a stronger statement than winning Miss America," Stevens said the following day. "To be America's Choice is an honor. To me, I won last night." Kirsten Haglund, Miss Michigan, won the 2008 Miss America crown, that she will wear for the next year, and a $50,000 college scholarship. Stevens walked off the stage with a smile and a wave to join the other contestants who the judges had previously eliminated. She received a $4,000 scholarship. "I think I have shown that you can be a woman and a Soldier," said Stevens, an Army Guard medic who served in Afghanistan between November 2003 and April 2005. Stevens was named the last of the initial 16 finalists because of the America's Choice competition that permitted the public to vote for a favorite contestant. It is believed that many National Guard members and others affiliated with the U.S. military services voted for Stevens. The other 15 initial finalists were selected by the judges following a week of intense competition leading up to the Saturday night finale. Stevens, according to pageant officials, was the first Miss America contestant since 1992 to be affiliated with the National Guard. Had she won, she would have become the first Miss America to have served in a combat zone. "Being chosen as America's Choice shows that Jill is a special person and that America supports our Soldiers," said Brig. Gen. Jefferson Burton, the Utah Guard's newly-appointed assistant adjutant general-Army. "We are very proud of Jill. She has handled it all very well." Her reign as Miss Utah will end in July.
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