Indiana & Kentucky Make Miss America Top 5 But the Air Force Claims Victory

I have only met one Miss America champ, and it's appropriate that she was from Kentucky. In fact, to date, the Commonwealth has only been in that winners' circle one time.

Anyway, I met Heather French Henry at the BBQ Festival back in 2001, and she had just been crowned (as Heather French) the previous September.

Also, I exhorted her to try mutton, which she had already done. She wasn't a fan, unlike her husband, former Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry, an Owensboro native.

Kentucky Represents on the Miss America Stage

I was crossing my fingers for Kentucky Sunday night in the hope that we'd finally get our second Miss America victor. We came so close, but ultimately Mallory Hudson finished as the third runner-up, still a most impressive feat. The Bowling Green resident deserves huge congratulations for that placement AND for her journey as Miss Kentucky.

Kentucky and Indiana Both Make the Miss America Top Five

And so does her neighbor to the north, Fort Wayne's Cydney Bridges, who represented Indiana and was named the second runner-up.

I'm not sure if Kentucky and Indiana have BOTH made into the the Miss America top five at the same time before, and a search for such information has proven difficult. But both women have been spectacular as ambassadors for the respective states, and we applaud them.

An Air Force Officer Takes the Miss America Crown for the First Time

So, who was it that got the final ovation? Why, it was none other than the first ever active-duty Air Force officer to claim the crown. 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh, representing Colorado, was the night's big winner.

The first runner-up was Ellie Breaux of Texas.

A huge congratulations to all the pageant contestants, and a big salute--in more ways than one--to 2nd Lt. Marsh. And now, off she goes into the wild blue yonder of a 12-month reign as Miss America.