Miss USA to Miss USA and Miss Universe beginning with Miss Universe 2015. The modern pageant consists of a preliminary competition held a week before the pageant when all contestants are judged in swimsuit, gown, and interview competitions. Every year, each state holds a preliminary competition to choose their delegate for the Miss USA pageant. In some states (such as Texas and Florida), local pageants are also held to determine delegates for the state competition. The state winners hold the title "Miss State USA" for the year of their reign. The most successful state is Texas, which has had the most semi-finalists
Mary Therese Friel Mary Therese Friel Mary Therese Friel (born February 10, 1959) is a beauty queen and business woman from New York who has held the title Miss USA 1979. Friel, who grew up in Pittsford, New York won the titles Miss New York USA and Miss USA. She was later a model, and opened her own modelling agency in 1987. She currently trains and represents a large number of models, as well as training beauty pageant participants. Friel, a student at St. John Fisher, first won the Miss New York USA title in 1978 and went on to represent her state