Las Vegas, NV - January 12, 2013 - Miss New York, Mallory Hytes Hagan was crowned Miss America 2013 tonight at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The final night of the 2013 Miss America Competition was broadcast live on ABC.
Mallory's triumphant walk across the stage was just the beginning of a journey that will take her to every corner of the country during her year of service as Miss America 2013. She will travel approximately 20,000 miles each month speaking to audiences about her platform "Stop it Now-Child Sexual Abuse" and acting as the official National Goodwill Ambassador for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals, is the national platform partner of the Miss America Organization.
In addition, Miss America 2013 will be the official spokesperson for Amway, Joseph Ribkoff Inc. and Catalina Swimwear.
Mallory is a student at The Fashion Institute of Technology. During her year as Miss America she will serve as spokesperson for Education and focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics) this year as she travels to Washington, DC to work with the Department of Education.
Along with the title of Miss America 2013, Mallory won a $50,000 scholarship provided by Amway to continue her education. For the talent portion of the competition, Mallory performed a Tap Dance to "Get Up" by James Brown.
The first runner-up was Miss South Carolina, Ali Rogers who earned a $25,000 Amway scholarship. Her talent performance was Piano and her personal platform is "Make a Difference".
Second runner-up honors and a $20,000 Amway scholarship were awarded to Miss Oklahoma, Alicia Clifton. Her talent was Tap Dance, and her personal platform is "Tap" Into Lifelong Volunteerism.
Miss Montana, Alexis Wineman was the winner of ABC's America's Choice, an online competition where viewers were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite Miss America contestant. The announcement was made at the beginning of the Miss America broadcast and she became the 15th Finalist to compete in the live finale.
Miss Washington, Mandy Schendel was the winner of the Judge's Choice, an on-air, surprise opportunity for the Judges to jointly select an additional contestant to compete among the finalists.
As the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women and one of the nation's leading achievement programs, the Miss America Organization made available last year more than $45 million in scholarship assistance. The Miss America Organization provides young women with a vehicle to further their personal and professional goals and instills a spirit of community service through a variety of nationwide community-based programs.
