Miss Teen USA 1998

Miss Teen USA 1998
Date	August 17, 1998
Presenters	Mario Lopez, Ali Landry and Julie Moran
Entertainment	N'Sync
Venue	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana
Broadcaster	CBS, KSLA
Winner	Vanessa Minnillo South Carolina
Congeniality	Vanessa Minnillo
Photogenic	Nicole Broderick

Miss Teen USA 1998, the 16th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from Shreveport, Louisiana on 17 August 1998. At the conclusion of the final competition, Vanessa Minnillo of South Carolina was crowned by outgoing queen Shelly Moore of Tennessee.

The pageant was hosted by Mario Lopez with color commentary by Ali Landry and Julie Moran. Landry held the Miss Louisiana Teen USA 1990, Miss Louisiana USA 1996 and Miss USA 1996 titles, making the semi-finals at Miss Teen USA 1990 pageant before winning Miss USA 1996.

During the pageant there was entertainment by N'Sync.

Results

Placements

Map showing placements by state

• Miss Teen USA 1998: Vanessa Minnillo (South Carolina)
• The runners-up were:
  • 1st runner-up: Bridgett Jordan (Tennessee)
  • 2nd runner-up: Victoria Franklin (Nevada)
• The other top five finalists were (in order of placement): Gina DeBernardi (Wyoming), Misty Horn (Virginia)
• The remaining semi-finalists were (in order of placement): Christie Cole (Texas), Nicole Broderick (Florida), Nicole Manske (Illinois), Jennifer Reel (Mississippi), Katee Doland (Colorado)

Special awards

• Miss Congeniality: Vanessa Minnillo (South Carolina)
• Miss Photogenic: Nicole Broderick (Florida)
• Style Award: Susie Castillo (Massachusetts)
• Best in Swimsuit: Vanessa Minnillo (South Carolina)

Scores

     Winner

     First Runner-up

     Second Runner-up

     Five Finalists

Historical significance

• This was only Wyoming's second placement, after Emily Earnst placed first runner-up to Kelly Hu in 1985.
• Nevada placed for the first time since 1983, this was also only their second placement. No other Nevada teen has bettered Victoria Franklin's placement, although Helen Salas equalled it when she placed second runner-up at Miss Teen USA 2004. Franklin was Miss Nevada USA at the time, Salas' sister titleholder.
• Mississippi placed for the first time since 1994.
• Vanessa Minnillo became the first Miss Congeniality winner to also win the pageant. She also got the highest score ever in any semifinal: 9.96 in swimsuit.
• Florida won the Miss Photogenic award for the third consecutive year, a first in the history of the pageant. Nicole Broderick was Florida's first semi-finalist since 1995, and no other Florida teen would place until Jennifer Wooten made the top fifteen at Miss Teen USA 2006.

Delegates

The Miss Teen USA 1998 delegates were:

Contestant notes

• Susie Castillo (Massachusetts) went on to win the Miss Massachusetts USA 2003 title, and then won the Miss USA 2003 pageant. Castillo and Vanessa Minnillo (South Carolina) would later go on to become MTV VJ's in the 2000s.
• Three of the six triple crown titleholders competed at Miss Teen USA 1998. These women held state titles for Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss America.
• Only a year after passing on her Teen title, Jennifer Dupont (Louisiana) won the Miss Louisiana USA 2000 title, one of the few women to win teen and Miss titles in such close succession. Dupont went on to win the Miss Louisiana 2004 title, and placed first runner-up to Deidre Downs at Miss America 2005.
• Katee Doland (Colorado) won the Miss Colorado USA 2001 title, and won the Miss Photogenic award at Miss USA 2001. She later became Miss Colorado 2003.
• Elizabeth Barchas (Idaho) won the Miss Idaho USA 2001 title, and competed with Doland at Miss USA 2001. As Miss Idaho 2004 she competed at Miss America 2005 alongside Jennifer Dupont, and won a non-finalist interview award
• Rana Jones (New Mexico) later won the Miss New Mexico 2003 title and competed in the Miss America pageant. She later tried to win the Miss New Mexico USA title but was unsuccessful. Her highest placement at Miss New Mexico USA was in the 2007 event, when she placed first runner-up to Casey Messer.
• Other contestants who competed at Miss USA were:
  • Elizabeth Arnold (Kentucky) - Miss Kentucky USA 2002
  • Kristen Luneberg (Rhode Island) - Miss North Carolina USA 2003
  • Tashina Kastigar (Indiana) - Miss Indiana USA 2003 (semi-finalist at Miss USA 2003)
  • Victoria Franklin (Nevada) - Miss Nevada USA 2004
  • Stacy Offenberger (Ohio) - Miss Ohio USA 2006 (third runner-up at Miss USA 2006)
• Amber Lancaster (Washington) is currently a model on The Price Is Right.
• Elizabeth Mathis (Michigan) went on to play Denzel Washington's daughter in the 2010 film Unstoppable.
• Nicole Briscoe (née Manske) (Illinois) is currently an ESPN broadcaster after working in journalism in local Midwestern media, later including a part-time role with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network before later working for Fox Sports. Since her marriage to Australian INDYCAR driver Ryan Briscoe she has used her married name on-air and on social media.

Judges

• Tim Brando
• Tara Lipinski
• Austin O’Brien
• Jonny Moseley
• Sarah Schwab
• Jill Stuart

Trivia

• Vanessa Minnillo and Mario Lopez would later host together the 2007 Miss Universe pageant
• Miss New York Linsay Fredette is the sister of BYU and NBA player Jimmer Fredette.

External links

• Official website