One of my favourite sections of the site (even if I’ve never settled on the perfect name for it!), a look at all the Miss Arkansas Teen USA titleholders who’ve gone on to compete at Miss USA or in other state pageants. It’s always inspiring to see where their journeys have taken them — whether they won a crown early on, competed once or twice and then hung up the heels or kept showing up year after year, showing persistence in their quest to walk the Miss USA stage.
Non-finalist
6
Melissa Staples (1984), Paige Yandell (1987), Tiffany Parks (1993), Lauren Weaver (2014), Arynn Johnson (2015), Madeline Bohlman (2021)
* Where the semi-finalists are cut in multiple stages before the top 5 or 6
1988
1
Melissa Staples (1984)
1989
1
Paige Yandell (1987)
1996
1
Tiffany Parks (1993)
1980s
2
Melissa Staples (1984), Paige Yandell (1987)
1990s
1
Tiffany Parks (1993)
2000s
0
2010s
4
Abby Floyd (2013), Lauren Weaver (2014), Arynn Johnson (2015), Mackenzie Hinderberger (2018)
Winners highlighted in italics. Stats may be inaccurate, especially for the 1980s & 1990s as I am reliant on newspaper archives which do not list all contestants.
1980s
2
Melissa Staples (1984), Paige Yandell (1987)
1990s
2
Tiffany Parks (1993), Aimee Delatte (1996)
2000s
3
Paula Taylor (2000), Taylor Wright (2006), Allison Kusenberger (2009)
2010s
4
Abby Floyd (2013), Lauren Weaver (2014), Arynn Johnson (2015), Mackenzie Hinderberger (2018)
Arkansas
Winner
8
Melissa Staples (1984), Paige Yandell (1987), Tiffany Parks (1993), Abby Floyd (2013), Lauren Weaver (2014), Arynn Johnson, Mackenzie Hinderberger, Madeline Bohlman
1st runner-up
2
Aimee Delatte (1996), Paula Taylor (2000)
2nd runner-up
1
Allison Kusenberger (2009)
3rd runner-up
1
Taylor Wright (2006)
