North Carolina – Caelynn Miller-Keyes
She’s improved considerably since representing Virginia in Miss Teen USA 2013 and now even channels a fiercer version of 2014 winner Nia Sanchez in certain angles. In another era, she would have been classified as middle of the pack. But with her compelling story of having experienced sexual assault and now being an advocate herself, consider her placement a lock.

North Dakota – Abigail Pogatshnik
Well, she’s not exactly the next Audra Mari, but she does have striking features.

Ohio – Deneen Penn
Her looks are placement-worthy, even though her preliminary evening gown was polarizing. And it’s not every year that we see a gorgeous contestant who lists “beekeeper” as her occupation.

Oklahoma – Cheyene Darling
To be quite honest, we find her a wee bit overrated, though she did slay during the preliminaries. Whether or not she can substantiate the hype now depends on whether or not she gave a strong interview.

Oregon – Toneata Morgan
This blonde bombshell is clearly her state’s best shot in years. And while starting a boutique isn’t exactly one’s idea of WME/IMG bait, for anyone to start a respectable business from scratch is already a laudable feat.

Pennsylvania – Olivia Suchko
She’s more photogenic than telegenic. We’re still reeling from her gorgeous predecessor’s unjust non-placement, which probably won’t be vindicated just yet.

Rhode Island – Daescia DeMoranville
Well, she is cute, but cuteness isn’t a trait we associate with other Rhode Islanders who recently fared well in international pageants, like Olivia Culpo and Anea Garcia.

South Carolina – Tori Sizemore
With the glorious exception of Alyssa Campanella, former Miss Teen USA 1st runners-up who crossed over to this pageant ended up with either lower placements or, worse, not placing altogether. Much as this 2013 alum performed creditably in the preliminaries, we have this gnawing feeling she’ll follow that pattern.

South Dakota – Madison Nipe
Like Nebraska, this Aishwarya Rai look-alike is one of the most facially stunning girls this year. And considering that it’s only been two years since the Mount Rushmore State ended their 42-year placement drought, it’s nice to see them taking a step towards consistency.

Tennessee – Alexandra Harper
The usually-formidable Volunteer State uncharacteristically missed the cut thrice within the last five years. This striking contender stands a strong chance of not only following through with last year’s recovery, but also making her mother, Miss Tennessee USA 1981 Sharon Kay Steakly, proud.

Texas – Logan Lester
Not everybody’s convinced that Texas can put itself back in contention, which could spell tragedy considering that it never missed the cut for more than two years in a row. Then again, there must be something special about somebody who could manage to beat a former Miss Teen USA to win the state title (Better luck next time, Danielle Doty!). Couple that with her impressive achievements in the real estate field, and perhaps Team Lone Star can still keep the faith.

Utah – Narine Ishhanov
Exactly the same case as Pennsylvania, except this one’s Armenian.

Vermont – Maia-Jena Allo
She has beautiful eyes, but her facial features are on the sharp side overall.

Virginia – Ashley Vollrath
Well, it appears this state is going through the same fallow period which both Tennessee and Texas went through recently. This girl might still pull a surprise, but it will likely be a huge upset.

Washington – Abigail Hill
It’s been 20 years since this state scored a convincing placement – we say “convincing”, because the 2004 placement was considered a jaw-dropping surprise. This lady’s a last minute favorite, if there ever was one. She may not have been a pre-pageant favorite, but her preliminary performance was definitely one of last week’s most outstanding surprises. Having two former Miss Washington USAs in the selection committee also bodes well.

West Virginia – Casey Lassiter
She’s a middling contender. Then again, the West Virginian candidates of 2005 and 2016 were considered middling contenders and look where they ended up.

Wisconsin – Regina Gray
Much as her perplexing hairstyle constitutes a styling emergency, her impressive accolades and back story will likely earn her brownie points.

Wyoming – Callie Bishop
At 28, she’s the oldest among all this year’s contestants who previously competed in Miss Teen USA. And like Louisiana, she also benefits from the expanded age limit. Yes, her flimsy catwalk conjures Chelsea Cooley flashbacks, but the fact that she survived a near-fatal infection which required one of her ribs to be removed makes her a potential worthy wild card.

 

Louisiana – Lauren Vizza
One of the two contestants who benefitted from the recently-expanded age limit (28), also happens to be the host delegate. Yes, she is facially striking, and yes, she’s competing on home court, but objectively speaking, there are other far more solid performers in this batch. Still, a possible placement shouldn’t be discounted.

Maine – Marina Gray
Tiny girl from a tiny state. She works for the military and was once recognized as Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year in her unit. But before you dismiss her as “White Deshauna”, her heart-wrenching back story of having been emancipated from her family at age 16 could earn her more points.

Maryland – Brittinay Nicolette
This redhead serves as Transplant Coordinator for the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland and as an advocate against sexual assault and domestic violence. Apart from that WME/IMG-luring resume, she also looked great in the preliminaries – probably enough for her to end her state’s two-year drought.

Massachusetts – Allissa Latham
It’s been 20 years since her state won its first title and what a way to celebrate that anniversary. This future healthcare executive stole the limelight from many pre-pageant favorites last week with one of the bounciest catwalks in this bunch. Now, it looks like she’s ready to steal a semi-final spot as well.

Michigan – Elizabeth Johnson
While not a clear-cut frontrunner, this Krav Maga expert is involved in a multitude of relevant causes, apart from being a solid performer. Sash power also might help.

Minnesota – Kalie Wright
She’s actually from Idaho. In fact, she follows the footsteps of her predecessor, who also once competed in Miss America representing a different state and eventually crossed over to this pageant with better results. Looks-wise, she seems deserving of a similar  lofty feat. But with so many other humanitarian factors now being considered in the selection process, it would be a relief to see her at least make the cut.

Mississippi – Laine Mansour
She’s another preliminary standout and to be quite honest, she’s even more facially striking than another Lebanese who competed in this pageant eight years ago and won. But again, with so many different factors considered in the selection process nowadays, she’s going to need more than a pretty face to advance.

Missouri – Tori Kruse
Last year’s candidate benefitted from the distinction of being this state’s first black representative. This year’s bet doesn’t benefit from such extra mileage.

Montana – Dani Walker
Her Youtube page has more than 10,000 subscribers as of this writing. That may or may not be her key to ranking higher.

Nebraska – Sarah Rose Summers
Quite easily the face of this year’s pageant and, as her surname suggests, she has an extremely sunny personality to boot. To be fair, she’s now a far more formidable contender than she was in her Teen stint six years ago. But with several other standout preliminary performances last week, will her pretty face be enough?

Nevada – Carolina Urrea
This year’s perceived frontrunners from Florida and Georgia are Puerto Rican and Colombian, respectively. As for this former Nuestra Belleza Latina contestant, she once overcame homelessness at a young age in addition to delivering a fine preliminary performance. Could there be room for a Mexican on top as well? It sure seems that way.

New Hampshire – Michelle McEwan
While her name suggests otherwise, this girl is Thai and, in fact, speaks the language fluently. Now, if only she had the same fierceness as Thai contestants.

New Jersey – Alexa Noone
This flight attendant of Filipino-Nicaraguan descent has a passing resemblance to Ariana Grande. She’s leagues behind Chhavi Verg (Read: ROBBED), but having identical twin brothers with special needs might be her ticket to a back-to-back placement.

New Mexico – Kristen Leyva
While this mechanical engineer won’t likely be the Latina-of-choice, her “woman-rocking-a-man’s-job” back story means she shouldn’t be dismissed that easily.

New York – Genesis Suero
She aims to be the first Dominican-born Miss USA, as commentated by Erin Lim in the preliminaries, though it’s worth remembering that 2003 winner Susie Castillo is half-Dominican. Now prior to the pageant, Latin fans initially envisioned the Final Two to be between her and her Florida namesake. Alas, that scenario became slightly less conceivable last week. She sizzled in preliminary swimsuit, but the wonky tower-bun she sported in preliminary evening gown might have been too much of a styling risk. It pains us to say this, but among the four perceived Latina frontrunners in this bunch, she now stands the risk of becoming the sacrificial lamb.