Miss Rocky Top comes out on top in Miss Tennessee USA 2024
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After spending days demonstrating their beauty, style, and public speaking abilities, two young women took home dazzling crowns because they will spend the next year representing the Volunteer State as Miss Tennessee USA and Miss Tennessee Teen USA.
The 2024 Miss Tennessee USA and Miss Tennessee Teen USA competitions took place from Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9 at Austin Peay State University. The pageants consist of a swimsuit portion, an evening gown portion, and an on-stage interview.
Saturday’s finals were hosted by Allee-Sutton Hethcoat, Miss Tennessee USA 2017, and Cody Alan, a Country Music Television (CMT) on-air personality who was recently inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame, according to Visit Clarksville TN.
The Miss Tennessee USA 2024 crown and sash went to Miss Rocky Top, Christell Foote.
PREVIOUS: Miss Downtown Nashville crowned Miss Tennessee USA 2023
Foote will assume the title and duties of Miss Tennessee USA from Regan Ringler, a Mississippi native who lives in Nashville. Ringler earned a Bachelors of Science in business administration with an emphasis in entrepreneurship and a minor in graphic design from the University of Southern Mississippi. After graduating in 2019, she moved to Nashville, where she completed her Master of Arts in organizational leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University while working full-time as an account executive and maintained a part-time job as a stylist and model in designer clothing liquidation, according to pageant organizers.
“My journey to competing at Miss USA began seven years ago,” Ringler said in her closing comments via video. “I’m so grateful that it took me as long as it did because the person that I was seven years ago has blossomed into the confident, determined young woman I am today.”
With 57 contestants in the Miss Tennessee USA pageant, Visit Clarksville TN said the following women either rounded out the top five or were honored with special awards:
First runner-up: Madison Kunst, Miss Madison County
Second runner-up: Kennedy Mosley, Miss Heart of Tennessee
Third runner-up: Desiree Dyson, Miss Tipton County
Fourth runner-up: Emma Conn, Miss College Grove
Miss Congeniality and People’s Choice Award winner: Frankie Moore Purdie, Miss Queen City
Most Photogenic: Sydney Grace Young, Miss Clarksville
RELATED: 40-year-old Miss Davidson County to compete in Miss Tennessee USA 2024 pageant
Earlier in the day, Townsend Blackwell traded in the title of Miss Lakeland for that of Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2024.
In her final interview, Blackwell emphasized the importance of disconnecting from technology, not comparing ourselves to others on social media, and being outside and active for the sake of our mental and physical health.
Blackwell received her new title, crown, and sash from Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2023, Blye Allen, an honor student at Christian Academy of Knoxville who reportedly loves school — especially science and math classes — and is a member of the varsity cheerleading squad. Not only has she participated in the Vanderbilt Programs for Talented Youth and the Duke Talented Identification Program, but she was a delegate to the 2023 Congress of Future Medical Leaders, where she received an Award of Excellence for her academic accomplishments. In the future, Allen plans to pursue a degree in the medical field.
Allen offered the following advice to the 2024 titleholder: “You are in store for a life-changing year. Soak it all in.”
Among the 25 contestants in the Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2024 pageant, officials said the following young women were also recognized for reaching the coveted top five or earning other special awards:
First runner-up: Ruthie Richey, Miss Memphis
Second runner-up: Claire Willis, Miss Rocky Top
Third runner-up: Lola Klaire Chappell, Miss Wilson County
Fourth runner-up: Elena Rowland Anzoategui, Miss Rock Island
Miss Congeniality: Kennedy Bragg, Miss Nashville
People’s Choice Award winner: Elizabeth Mora, Miss Robertson County
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Foote and Blackwell will go on to represent Tennessee in August at the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants in Hollywood.
Under the direction of Greenwood Productions, Inc. — which is run by Kimberly Payne Greenwood, Miss Tennessee USA 1989 and wife of Grammy award winner, Lee Greenwood — the Miss Tennessee USA pageants are affiliated with the Miss Universe Organization and have been hosted in Clarksville since 1999. For more information about Miss Tennessee USA and Miss Tennessee Teen USA, click here.
This year marks a big change for all pageants associated with the Miss Universe Organization, which recently eliminated age limits for contestants over 18 years old, as well as restrictions on contestants who are married, divorced, and pregnant.
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