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.^[1]

Miss Teen USA 1986
Date	January 21, 1986
Presenters	Michael Young Morgan Brittany
Entertainment	The Commodores Frankie Avalon Fabian Bobby Rydell
Venue	Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida
Broadcaster	CBS WCPX-TV
Entrants	51
Placements	10
Winner	Allison Brown Oklahoma
Congeniality	Dana Moody Arkansas
Photogenic	Kristy Vanney Arizona
← 1985 1987 →

Background

Daytona Beach was announced as the host city for the 1986 pageant in November 1985.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[3] The decision was criticised by feminists who criticised the county's decision to spend money on the pageant.^[4]

Event

Contestants spent three weeks in the Daytona Beach area preparing to compete for the title.^[5] The pageant was hosted by Michael Young, the host from 1983 to 1984 who returned from hosting after a break in 1985.^[6] 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.^[6]

Results

Placements

Map showing placements by state

The 1986 pageant results were:^[7]

Final Results	Contestant
Miss Teen USA 1986	Oklahoma – Allison Brown
1st Runner-Up	Texas – Becky Pestana
2nd Runner-Up	New York – Claudia Liem
3rd Runner-Up	Virginia – Angela Thigpin
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

Special awards

Award	Contestant
Miss Congeniality	Arkansas – Dana Moody[8]
Miss Photogenic	Arizona – Kristi Vanney[9]
Best state costume	Pennsylvania – Melissa Forlini

Judges

The celebrity panel of judges comprised the follwoing:^[10]

• 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:

State/District	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown	Placement/Award	Notes	Ref.
Alabama	Dell McGhee	18	Alexander City			[11]
Alaska	Bobbie Mitchell	17	Fairbanks			[12][13]
Arizona	Kristi Vanney	16	Tempe	Miss Photogenic		[9][14]
Arkansas	Dana Moody	17	Desha	Miss Congeniality		[8]
California	Michelle Low	17	Ontario			[15]
Colorado	Raeann Durkee					[16]
Connecticut	Karen Zawacki	17	Danbury			[17]
Delaware	Laura Hawthorne	17	Wilmington			[18]
District of Columbia	Melissa Gilbert	17	Washington, D.C.			[19]
Florida	Stefanie Smith	16	Jacksonville	Semi-finalist		[20]
Georgia	Wendy Neuendorf	16	Dunwoody		Later Miss Alabama 1991	[21][22]
Hawaii	Michelle Hardin
Idaho	Kathryn Comba	16	Boise			[23]
Illinois	Dyann Lowery	18	Sandwich			[24][19]
Indiana	Danielle Wayne	17	Portage			[25]
Iowa	Kristin Hudson		Des Moines			[26]
Kansas	Kimberlee Girrens	16	Wichita		Later Miss Kansas USA 1992 and top six at Miss USA 1992	[27][28][29]
Kentucky	Amy Miller
Louisiana	Shasta St Angelo	16		Semi-finalist		[1]
Maine	Linda Marie Kiene				Later Miss Maine USA 1992	[30][31][32]
Maryland	Julie Stanford				Later Miss Maryland USA 1990
Massachusetts	Michelle King		Manchester			[33]
Michigan	Terri Turner		Clawson			[34]
Minnesota	Jennifer Gessell		Bloomington			[35]
Mississippi	Michele Fouché		Jackson			[36]
Missouri	Jennifer Tangora					[16]
Montana	Camille "Kami" Kostelecky	17	Bozeman			[37]
Nebraska	Elizabeth Feige	17	LaVista			[38]
Nevada	Wendi Stewart
New Hampshire	Diane Dothan
New Jersey	Rosalie Cuozzo	17	Colts Neck	Semi-finalist		[17]
New Mexico	Kerali Hansen	17	Las Cruces	Semi-finalist		[39]
New York	Claudia Liem	15	Glendale	2nd runner-up		[17]
North Carolina	Denise Jenkins	16	Wilmington			[40]
North Dakota	Shannon Kaiser	16	Williston			[41]
Ohio	Michele Beane	15	Englewood			[42]
Oklahoma	Allison Brown	17	Edmond	Miss Teen USA		[1]
Oregon	Danna Christiansen	17	Oregon City			[43]
Pennsylvania	Melissa Forlini	15	Reading	Best state costume		[44]
Rhode Island	Lori Damige	17	Cranston			[45]
South Carolina	Angela Shuler	17	Fort Mill		Later Miss South Carolina USA 1989	[46][47]
South Dakota	Valerie Marsden	17	Rapid City	4th runner-up		[48]
Tennessee	Wendy Laws	16	Elizabethton			[49]
Texas	Becky Pestana		San Antonio	1st runner-up		[50][1]
Utah	Michelle Montgomery	17				[51]
Vermont	Holly Matava	16	Brattleboro			[52]
Virginia	Angela Thigpin	15	Portsmouth	3rd runner-up		[1]
Washington	Lisa Elliott	17	Snohomish			[15]
West Virginia	Jody Caldwell	15		Semi-finalist		[1]
Wisconsin	Lanae St. John	16	La Crosse			[53]
Wyoming	Julie Henry	16	Gillette			[54]

1. Ages at the time of the pageant