Sunday, August 23, 2009
Miss Teen USA 2002, the 20th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from South Padre Island, Texas on 28 August 2002. At the conclusion of the final competition, Miss Wisconsin Teen USA Vanessa Marie Semrow was crowned by outgoing queen Marissa Whitley of Missouri.
This was the second consecutive year that the pageant was held on South Padre Island, although it had also been held there in 1997.
Semrow was only the second teenager from Wisconsin to place in the pageant, and the first to win the title. The state's previous placement was in 1984.
In the years after the pageant, two delegates who competed at Miss Teen USA 2002 went on to win the Miss USA title. The class of 2002 is the first to produce two Miss USA winners. The first was Tara Conner of Kentucky, who placed second runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2002 and won the Miss USA 2006 pageant; she was followed by Rachel Smith of Tennessee (semi-finalist and Miss Photogenic at Miss Teen USA) who won Miss USA 2007. Both placed fourth runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant. A third contestant, fourth runner-up Kimberly Harlan of Georgia, competed at Miss World 2003 but did not place.
The runners-up were:
1st runner-up: Jennifer Morgan (California)
2nd runner-up: Tara Conner (Kentucky)
3rd runner-up: Michelle Attai (Maryland)
4th runner-up: Kimberly Harlan (Georgia)
The remaining semi-finalists were: Ashley Bickford (Connecticut), Alla Ilushka (Minnesota), Marley Delduchetto (New York), Alysha Castonguay (Rhode Island), Rachel Smith (Tennessee)
Special awards
Miss Congeniality: Austen Brown (South Carolina)
Miss Photogenic: Rachel Smith (Tennessee)
Best in Swimsuit: Tara Conner (Kentucky)
