Pageant Highlights

2022 PAGEANT HIGHLIGHTS

MS. AMERICA 2022-23
Athena Fleming 

Ms. America® 2022 Crown Goes to
a Military Veteran

Athena Fleming Begins Her Journey as Ms. America® 2022
 

Brea, California – Athena Fleming, representing the West Coast was crowned Ms. America® 2022 at the national pageant held Saturday, October 29, 2022, at the Curtis Theater in Brea, California.
 
Athena Flemings walk across the stage to accept the crown as Ms. America® 2022 marking her first steps on a journey that will take her from spotlight to spotlight representing an organization that enriches the lives of women across the country, who are passionate about giving back to others through volunteer service and being the inspiration that helps others achieve their dreams.
 
MS. AMERICA® 2022 is a native of Southern California, a military veteran, and a media relations professional. This Coast Guard veteran was once a professional cheerleader with the Los Angeles Kings Ice Crew. As a spokeswoman with Dress For Success, Athena created her international campaign, Positively Social, and teaches meaningful interactions through media, volunteer and community events.
 
Ms. America® 2022 first runner-up is Chesney Monroe, Ms. North Texas; second runner-up is Juliet Abdel, Ms. Colorado; third runner-up is Mai-Lea DeJong, Ms. Southern California; and the fourth runner-up is Desirie Abapo, Ms. Orange Country Regional.

Ms. America 2022-23 and her court.

59 women applied through the pageant website to be a contestant in this year’s pageant. Being accepted as a contestant was based on application, photo, and interview over the phone. Then it was narrowed down to 32 contestants where 24 women from across the country ended up competing on stage.  The pageant is based on four areas of competition: Evening Gown, Interview, Sportswear and On-Stage Question, each worth 25% of their total score.  Other optional titles awarded were USA International Ms.® 2022 which is for women 40 years of age and up Ms. International Beauty® 2022 which is for women 50 years of age and up, Mrs. International Beauty® 2022 is for married women and the winner of the Ms. International® 2022 is based on her ability to do consistently well throughout all areas of the pageant; judges competition scores, ads sold in the program book and People’s Choice thru Internet Voting.

MS. AMERICA PAGEANT FOUNDATION

$2000.00 in scholarship money was raised by the Ms. America® Pageant state and regional titleholders for the Ms. America® Pageant Foundation.  Miss International Beauty® 2022, Raven Solar, and Teen International Beauty® 2022, Jamie Lusung were each interviewed on stage and then presented with a $1000.00 check each for the 6-appearance contract they fulfilled. The following day the Queens were treated to a professional photo shoot sponsored by the official photographer Daniel Pham.

MS. INTERNATIONAL® 2022-23
NICOLE MELLECKER

MS. INTERNATIONAL® 2022 went to Nicole Mellecker, Ms. Midwest America. She was also the People’s Choice Award winner and walked away with $9,203.00 in cash.  Nicole is a graduate of Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. She is the Marketing Manager for her family business 360 Hazardous: 24/7 Cleanup Services. Nicole is an advocate for Suicide Prevention & in her spare time, she enjoys attending personal development opportunities, designing, meditating, traveling, & spending time with loved ones. She is so proud to be Ms. International® and to follow in the footsteps of the many accomplished women who have held the title over the years. 

 

USA INTERNATIONAL® 2022-23
KRISTIN KING

Brea, California – Kristin King, representing the West Coast was crowned USA International® 2022-23 at the national pageant held Saturday, October 29, 2022, at the Curtis Theater in Brea, California.
 
Kristin Kings walk across the stage to accept the crown as USA International® 2022-23 making her first steps on a journey that will take her from spotlight to spotlight representing an organization that enriches the lives of women across the country, who are passionate about giving back to others through volunteer service and being the inspiration that helps others achieve their dreams.

Kristin’s platform is Domestic Violence Awareness - No Longer Afraid. No Longer Ashamed! Kristin is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She is an Engineering Manager honored by the Global Beauty Awards for Best in Science. A domestic violence survivor, she is an Ambassador for the NO MORE campaign sharing her story, educating, and fundraising.

59 women applied through the pageant website to be a contestant in this year’s pageant. Being accepted as a contestant was based on application, photo, and interview over the phone. Then it was narrowed down to 32 contestants where 24 women from across the country ended up competing on stage.  The pageant is based on four areas of competition: Evening Gown, Interview, Sportswear and On-Stage Question, each worth 25% of their total score.  Other optional titles awarded were Ms. America® 2022 which is for women 26 years of age and up Ms. International Beauty® 2022 which is for women 50 years of age and up, Mrs. International Beauty® 2022 is for married women and the winner of the Ms. International® 2022 is based on her ability to do consistently well throughout all areas of the pageant; judges competition scores, ads sold in the program book and People’s Choice thru Internet Voting.
 

MS. INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY® 2022-23

Carla Ann Vanderloop
 

MS. INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY® 2022 went to Carla Ann Vanderloop, Ms. West Illinois. Ms. International Beauty® 2022 represents women 50 years of age and up who are single divorced or married with a dedicated platform they are an advocate for. Carla’s platform is “Pages of Life – (L)iving (I)t (F)ully (E)veryday…” Owner of CA Image Consulting, Carla Ann has mentored women for 30+ years. A former Packer Cheerleader coach, Humanitarian Award Recipient, Public Speaker and Co-Founder of Warm Hands, Warm Hearts Project, she has been instrumental in collecting and distributing 65,000 cold weather gear items since 2008

MRS. INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY® 2022-23
ANDREA ROBERTS

MRS. INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY® 2022 went to Andrea Roberts, Ms. Pacific Coast. Mrs. International Beauty® 2022 represents women 25 years of age and up who are married with a dedicated platform they are an advocate for. Andrea’s platform is Community Service and Youth Mentoring. She is a mom of 5 children and has had a dance studio and gymnasium for 30 years.  She likes to play golf, piano, and drums.  She founded the Benefit “Dance Your Heart Out” and is a “Hope Studio” for “Dancers Against Cancer!"

CLASSIC AMERICA® 2022-23
LISA TALLARIGO

CLASSIC AMERICA® 2022 is a new title for women who are a size 14 and up. This title was created to allow women to compete in a pageant without the title labeling them as a plus or curve’ woman. The pageant appointed Lisa Tallarigo from California as its inaugural queen who competed in the 2021 International pageant last year. If the Classic America® title had been available, she would have won which is why she was offered to represent the title. Lisa accepted, stating, “This title is the beginning of a whole new way of representing women who are Size 14 and up!” Lisa has over 20 years of experience in the pageant industry and has won over 13 state, national and international titles. She is the CEO of We Are Real Talk, a show via the Internet. This year at the pageant she interviewed all the contestants before the pageant and after the contestants competed in Judges Interviews.  
 

2022 SPECIAL AWARDS
Special Awards were judged through a separate panel of judges which has no bearing on who wins Ms. America nor any national title.
 
People’s Choice Award – Nicole Mellecker, Ms. Midwest winning $9,203.00 in cash.
Ms. for America Award 2022 – Carla Vanderloop, Ms West Illinois
America Ms. Award 2022 – Athena Fleming, Ms. West Coast
Spirit of Pageantry Award – Lisa Tauai, Ms. Southwest America
Empowering Women Award – Kristin King, Ms. Western States
Spirit of America Award – Cheyenne Bennion, Ms. Idaho
Power of the Crown Award – Athena Fleming, Ms. West Coast
Crown for a Purpose Award – Kimberly Lattimore, Ms. California Coast
Media Award – Talisha Huddleston, Ms. Southeast America
Photogenic Award – Desirie Abapo, Ms. Orange County Regional
Congeniality Award – Mai-Lea Dejong, Ms. Southern California
Community Service Award – Desirie Abapo, Ms. Orange County Regional
Woman of Distinction Award – Carla Vanderloop, Ms. West Illinois and Carlie Gintoli, Ms. Florida (tie).