Contestant commentaries are back! Apologies for missing hte last pageant weekend, unfortunately other committments intrfered with my ability to get them up. Miss California USA & Teen USA 2017 will be crowned this weekend in Long Beach. The pageant is webcast at www.pageantvision.com.
In the Miss comptition, Miss CA Teen USA 2012 Alexa Jones has returned to compete in her home state after three years competing in Arizona. Miss WA Teen USA 2013 Imani Bentham, who is a performer at Disneyland, is competing in her first Miss pageant and will be hoping to join her predecessor Alex Carlson-Helo, now Miss WA USA 2017, at Miss USA.
Three of last year's runners-up, Catherine Watters (1RU), Lauren Smolka (2RU) and Carolina Urrea (4RU) are all back, as are two 2015 runners-up who did not compete last year, 2RU Brittany Payne and 3RU Shelbi Buchholz. In the interim, Brittany competed at Miss Earth and placed second runner-up. 2011 runner-up Coco Hunter, a semi-finalist the last three times she has competed, is also back.
Returning semi-finalists are Domonique Jones, Thalia Lara, Brookyln Bizzle, Courtney Tezeno, Carly Diamond Stone, and Brooke Miller,
There are a ton of contestants who have moved up from the Teen division and are competing in their first Miss event. They include 2016 Teen 3RU Kaylee Fuller and semi-finalists Brooklyn Lowery, Montana Yao and Juliette Weaver; two-time Nevada Teen RU Jada Clark (most recently 1RU in 2016, but she started her pageant career in California); 2015 contestants Caitlin Dahlin and Toneata Morgan (a 3-time runner-up) and 2014 semi-finalists Emily Delgado and McKenzie Seagren. 2013 runner-up Charli Burnett is competing in Miss for the second time, that top five included Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf, her successor as Miss CA Teen USA Chloe Hatfield, and current Miss CA USA Nadia Mejia. There are also a number of non-finalists from these teen years who have moved up to Miss.
In CA there are always a number of contestants from other states. This year in addition to Imani and Jada there are a couple from Texas, two from Hawaii, one from Ohio and one from Idaho.
In the Miss comptition, Miss CA Teen USA 2012 Alexa Jones has returned to compete in her home state after three years competing in Arizona. Miss WA Teen USA 2013 Imani Bentham, who is a performer at Disneyland, is competing in her first Miss pageant and will be hoping to join her predecessor Alex Carlson-Helo, now Miss WA USA 2017, at Miss USA.
Three of last year's runners-up, Catherine Watters (1RU), Lauren Smolka (2RU) and Carolina Urrea (4RU) are all back, as are two 2015 runners-up who did not compete last year, 2RU Brittany Payne and 3RU Shelbi Buchholz. In the interim, Brittany competed at Miss Earth and placed second runner-up. 2011 runner-up Coco Hunter, a semi-finalist the last three times she has competed, is also back.
Returning semi-finalists are Domonique Jones, Thalia Lara, Brookyln Bizzle, Courtney Tezeno, Carly Diamond Stone, and Brooke Miller,
There are a ton of contestants who have moved up from the Teen division and are competing in their first Miss event. They include 2016 Teen 3RU Kaylee Fuller and semi-finalists Brooklyn Lowery, Montana Yao and Juliette Weaver; two-time Nevada Teen RU Jada Clark (most recently 1RU in 2016, but she started her pageant career in California); 2015 contestants Caitlin Dahlin and Toneata Morgan (a 3-time runner-up) and 2014 semi-finalists Emily Delgado and McKenzie Seagren. 2013 runner-up Charli Burnett is competing in Miss for the second time, that top five included Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf, her successor as Miss CA Teen USA Chloe Hatfield, and current Miss CA USA Nadia Mejia. There are also a number of non-finalists from these teen years who have moved up to Miss.
In CA there are always a number of contestants from other states. This year in addition to Imani and Jada there are a couple from Texas, two from Hawaii, one from Ohio and one from Idaho.
 2016 Top Five | Carolina Urrea* (4RU), Lauren Smolka* (2RU), Nadia Mejia (Miss CA USA), Catherine Watters* (1RU), Alexia Castillo (3RU) (click to view full size) |  2015 Top Five | Shelby Buchholz* (3RU), Brittany Wagner (1RU), Natasha Martinez (Miss CA USA), Brittany Payne* (2RU), Chanelle Riggan (4RU) (click to view full size) |
There is the highest number of contestatns in the Teen division since 2013. The only runner-up returning is 2016 second runner-up Jessica Duhay. There are plenty of returning semi-finalists: Arlene Serna, Riley Hunsucker, Lauren Dorn, Janella Garcia, Giselle Cabebe, and Erin Graham,.
Contestant lists
MISS CONTESTANTS (128)
- Samantha Mangseth • Anaheim (NF 16)
- Stephanie Lugo • Bakersfield
- Nastasia Dodd • Bass Lake (NF CA TUSA 16)
- Brookyln Bizzle • Beach Cities (SF 16, T20 14)
- Eyga Mojus • Bel Air
- Seanise Haskins • Belmont Shore (T10 CA TUSA 11)
- Victoria Olona • Beverly Hills
- Maria Luisa Jimenez • Burbank
- Tabitha Machart • Butte County
- Eliani Majuan • Cal Coast
- Sara Mohebpour • Calabasas (SF TX TUSA 14)
- Gabriella Deyi • Capitol Cities (NF 12)
- Jaslynn Salas • Carson
- Jazzel Garcia • Central Coast (NF 16, NF CA TUSA 14, NF 13)
- Tahirih Toche • Central Los Angeles
- Ashley Lawrence • Century City (NF CA TUSA 14, T10 13, NF 10)
- Aurora Albi-Mercier • City of Angels
- Katherine Solares • City of Los Angeles
- Jennifer Chung • City of San Jose (NF 16)
- Keresey Dillon • City of Seal Beach
- Jordan Fowler • Coastal Cities
- Montana Yao • Coastline (SF CA TUSA 16)
- Thalia Lara • Corona (SF 16)
- Josseline Arredondo • Costa Mesa
- Brylin D'Antonio • Crystal Cove (NF CA TUSA 13)
- Courtney Tezeno • Culver City (SF 16, NF TX USA 14)
- Pauline Ovalle • Daly City
- Amanda Larsson-Dally • Dana Point (NF 16, NF 15)
- Catherine Cabot • Del Mar
- Kayla Anderson • Del Sur (NF 16, NF 15)
- Julie Ledesma • Downey
- Kaylee Fuller • Dublin (3RU CA TUSA 16, T20 13, T10 12)
- Eden Sussenguth • East Bay
- Jada Clark • Eastvale (1RU NV TUSA 16, 3RU 15, T20 CA TUSA 13)
- Ronaé Wells • Emerald Coast
- Jourdyn Aiken • Encinitas
- Suzanne Perez • Fullerton (NF CA TUSA 16)
- Jhaza Tanner • Gardena
- Brittany Goss • Glendale
- Catherine Watters • Gold Coast (1RU 16)
- Caitlin Dahlin • Gold Counties (T10 CA TUSA 15, T20 14, T10 13)
- Toneata Morgan • Golden Shores (4RU CA TUSA 15, 3RU 14, T10 13, 2RU 12)
- Domonique Jones • Golden State (SF 16, NF 14, NF CA TUSA 12)
- Anacarmina Mariategue • Greater Bay Area (NF CA TUSA 12)
- Emily Delgado • Greater Inland Empire (T10 CA TUSA 14, NF 12)
- Alexa Jones • Greater San Diego (SF AZ USA 16, T20 15, 1RU 14, Miss CA Teen USA 12)
- Shiksha Sharma • Hayward (NF 15)
- Jazmine Graham • Heart Of Hollywood
- Jenna Bongiovanni • Hermosa Beach
- Antonay Howard • High Desert
- Sinead Jenkins • Historic Orange
- Gianna Simone • Hollywood Hills
- P'Etra Davis • Hollywood Regional
- Lena Coco Hunter • Hollywood (T20 15, T20 14, T20 13, 3RU 11, NF 10)
- Juliet Weaver • Huntington Beach (SF CA TUSA 16, T10 15)
- Ali Marie Crowther • Irvine
- Brittany Payne • Kern County (Miss Earth US 2015, 2RU 15)
- Hannah Steinberg • La Jolla
- Carly Diamond Stone • Laguna Beach (SF 16, T20 15, NF 14, NF MI USA 12)
- Starla Smith • Lakewood
- Taylor Cassady • Long Beach (NF CA TUSA 14, NF 13)
- Brigette Anderson • Los Angeles County
- Iman Brown • Los Angeles
- Tara Broderick • Los Gatos (NF 16)
- Carolina Urrea • Malibu (4RU 16)
- Charelle Shannon • Manhattan Beach
- Vismrity Singh • Marin County
- Candice Cruz • Melrose (NF 16)
- Taylor Millovan • Mission Viejo
- Mariah Ciani • Monterey Bay
- Kishany Alcala • Monterey County
- Jenelle Domaoal • Napa Valley
- Kelly Cole Smith • Newport Coast
- Imani Blackmon • North Anaheim (Miss WA Teen USA 2013)
- Janessa Alberre • North Hollywood (NF 16, T20 15, NF 12)
- Justice Enlow • Northern Los Angeles
- Alexxa Morgan • Northern San Diego
- Shelbi Buchholz • Northern Sierra (3RU 15)
- Eligia Garcia • Norwalk
- Samantha Acosta • Oakley
- Maricris Lapaix • Orange County (NF 12)
- Samantha Stephens • Orange Hills (NF 10)
- Kat Lernihan • Pacific Coast
- Brooke Miller • Paradise Cove (SF 16)
- Alexandria Hernandez • Pasadena
- Courtney Lucas • Paso Robles
- Janelle Mughannam • Petaluma
- Alanni Garnet • Pico Rivera
- Lauren Smolka • Pink Ribbons Crusade (2RU 16, T20 15, T20 14)
- Kaitlin Jackson • Pismo Beach
- Avalon Scott • Quartz Hill
- Shivani Katbamna • Rancho Bernardo
- Monica Fisher • Redding
- Holly Kanter • Redlands
- Kendra Von Bernuth • Regional West Coast
- Viktoriya Rizvanova • Sacramento County
- Brooklyn Lowery • Sacramento Valley (SF CA TUSA 16, NF 15)
- Cecilia Rodriguez • San Diego Cities (NF 15)
- Alexa Rahman • San Diego County
- Kristen StephensonPino • San Diego (SF HI TUSA 10)
- Ashley Ruiz • San Luis Obispo
- Patricia Fernandez • San Marcos
- Piper Axtell • San Pedro (NF HI TUSA 15)
- Arianna Lemus • Santa Barbara County
- India Williams • Santa Monica (NF CA TUSA 15, NF 14)
- Romana Menegoni • Santa Rosa
- Candace Smith • Shasta County
- Kalpana Pot • Sherman Oaks
- Sherry Shi • Silicon Valley
- Alison Kim • Silverlake (NF TX USA 16, NF CA USA 15, T20 14, T20 13)
- Shalini Quattlebaum • SoCal (NF 16)
- Charli Burnett • South Bay (NF 15, T10 CA TUSA 14, 2RU 13)
- Rachel Boles-Harfouche • South Central LA
- Shayla Washington • South San Francisco
- Avriel Tomaiko • Southern Coast
- Keyonna Walton • Spring Valley
- Brijet Finister • Stockton
- Diana Mkryan • Studio City
- Crystal Chavarria • Toluca Lake (NF 16, NF 11)
- Erica Palacios • Tri-City
- Paola Cortes • Tustin
- Laurel Henderson • Universal City
- Vanessa Maalouf • Venice
- Khilyn Craig • Ventura County (NF 15)
- Mckenzie Seagren • West Coast (T20 CA TUSA 14)
- Sierra Nowak • Westchester (SF OH USA 15, SF 14, SF 13, NF 12)
- Jordyn Chessmore • Westlake Village (NF 16, NF ID USA 15, 2RU 14)
- Roxana Romo • Whittier
- AnnaNoel Olson • Almeda County
- Kasen Hodges • Altadena
- Sophia Rosales • Anaheim
- Aliyah Taylor • Antioch
- Isabelle Mimeles • Bay Area
- Jordan Loesch • Bay Cities (NF 16)
- Aslyn Rodriguez • Bel Air
- Linnea Visbal • Beverly Hills (NF 16)
- Giselle Monterrosas • Cal Coast
- Lauren Hunt • Calabasas
- Alexis Chavez • Cambrian Park (NF 16)
- Hannah Graham • Canyon Lake (NF 16)
- Hannah Lewis • Capitol Cities
- Emma Reed • Carlsbad (NF 15, SF 14)
- Jada Pasos • Carmichael
- Jessica Duhay • Chula Vista (2RU 16, T20 15)
- Janiece Love • Citrus Valley
- Taylor Gempler • City of Angels (NF 16, NF 15)
- Kathy Matheny • City of Hollywood (NF 16)
- Shannon Kim • City of San Diego
- Spencer Lopez • City of Seal Beach
- Madison Ortiz • Coastal Cities (NF 16)
- Jordan Pace • Compton
- Marianne Chehayeb • Corona Del Mar
- Amanda Fink • Coronado
- Grace Anne • El Cajon
- Kyra Cromwell • Emerald Coast (NF 16, NF 15)
- Alondra Palacios • Fullerton
- Arlene Serna • Garden Grove (SF 16)
- Talaura Cothran • Glendora
- Kathryn Maysent • Gold Coast (NF 16)
- Kelli Loper • Gold Counties
- Ernestine Siu • Golden Gate
- Kimberli Bautista • Golden State (NF 16)
- Bianca Sanchez • Gonzales
- Brittani Lauter • Great Inland Empire
- Morgan McIntyre • Greater Bay Area
- Asia Smith • Greater San Diego
- Laura Locken • Historic Orange
- Zoey Shockley • Hollywood
- Jannu Patel • Huntington Beach
- Riley Hunsucker • Irvine (SF 16)
- Tara Falce • Ladera Ranch
- Peri Baser • Los Gatos
- Alyena Jaye • Malibu
- Lauren Dorn • Napa Valley (SF 16)
- Kamryn Cendana • Newport Coast
- Rachel Deangelis • North Hollywood
- Alyssa Zamora • Northern Sierra
- Mikayla Oresko • Orange County (NF 16)
- Marizza Delgado • Pacific Coast (NF 16)
- Lia Warnke • Pacifica
- Ora Kohan • Paradise Cove
- Janella Garcia • Pasadena (SF 16)
- Sommer Sucevich • Placer County
- Katy Shumard • Redwood Coast
- Delany Buss • Ripon
- Giselle Cabebe • Sacramento Valley (SF 16, NF 15)
- Brianna Stafford • San Diego Cities
- Marlene Freerksen • San Diego County (NF 16)
- Kianoosh Jafari • San Diego
- Kalie Arnold • Santa Cruz (NF 16)
- Samantha Ramos • Santa Monica (NF 15)
- Savannah Finch • Seal Beach
- Carly Witteman • SoCal
- Erin Graham • South Bay (SF 16, T20 15)
- Katiana Borja • Southern Coast
- Sarah Moore • Stanislaus County
- Theresa Smolens • Sugarkiss
- Shir Shelef • Sunnyvale
- Helena Coloma • Tracy
- Alexys Ungria • Tustin
- Kristin Cortines • Universal City
- Kaylyn Slevin • Ventura County
- Carly Peeters • West Coast
- Tiffany Nguyen • West Covina
- Megan You • Woodbridge
- Dominique Arciniega • Yorba Linda
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