The 16-year-old from Morris Plains is the Garden State’s first national titleholder.
At the conclusion of the first Miss Teen USA pageant streamed by a major network (off the top of my head anyway, and a far cry from pay-per-view schmozzle of the last year or two), Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava, a 16-year-old of Mexican and Indian heritage, became not only New Jersey’s first Miss Teen USA but their first national titleholder when she was crowned Miss Teen USA 2023.
Miss Teen USA 2023 Results
Runners-up
First runner-up to UmaSofia was Miss New York Teen USA 2023 Stephanie Skinner. Both teens have the same state director. Second runner-up was Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 2023 Maggie Ross, third runner-up was Miss Texas Teen USA 2023 Haylee Puckett and fourth runner-up was Miss Ohio Teen USA 2023 Carolina Sola.
Stephanie Skinner, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, had placed third runner-up to Maggie Ross at the Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 2023 pageant a few months prior to winning Miss New York Teen USA. Maggie herself is originally from Ohio (she is a student at Pitt) and she and Carolina Sola were runners-up to Kylan Darnell at Miss Ohio Teen USA 2022. Haylee Puckett won Miss Texas Teen USA the first year she competed.
Top 20 semi-finalists
The remaining top 20 semi-finalists for Miss Teen USA 2023 were:
- Miss California Teen USA 2023 Taliya Peiris
- Miss District of Columbia Teen USA 2023 Asia Chisley
- Miss Georgia Teen USA 2023 Denim Lovett
- Miss Illinois Teen USA 2023 Vivica Lewandowski
- Miss Iowa Teen USA 2023 Madeline Erickson
- Miss Missouri Teen USA 2023 Madison Beck
- Miss North Dakota Teen USA 2023 Morgan Schwindt
- Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2023 Jaselyn Rossman
- Miss Rhode Island Teen USA 2023 Lola Paolissi (People’s Choice Winner)
- Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2023 Kenlee McVay
- Miss Tennessee Teen USA 2023 Blye Allen
- Miss Utah Teen USA 2023 Jocelyn Osmond
- Miss Virginia Teen USA 2023 Ashley Wang
- Miss Washington Teen USA 2023 Mackenzie Kuiken
- Miss Wisconsin Teen USA 2023 Shelby Hohneke
Commentary
This was Rhode Island’s first time placing at Miss Teen USA since 2009 and Virginia and Washington’s first placements since 2010. Wisconsin and Iowa placed for the third consecutive year, a new record for both states, and this was the first time that Ohio placed back-to-back at Miss Teen USA. New York made the top five at Miss Teen USA for the first time since 2001.
Two of the top 20 were related to past titleholders Miss Illinois Teen USA 2023 Vivica Lewandowski is the daughter of Miss Illinois USA 1998 Mandy Lane Lewandowski and Miss Utah Teen USA 2023 Jocelyn Osmond is the daughter of Miss Utah Teen USA 1994 Heather Henderson Osmond (Jocelyn is also the niece of entertainer Donny Osmond).
Asia Chisley (District of Columbia), Madison Beck (Missouri), Jaselyn Rossman (Oklahoma), Lola Paolissi (Rhode Island), Jocelyn Osmond (Utah) and Ashley Wang (Virginia) all won their state titles on their first attempt. Both Denim Lovett (Georgia) and Shelby Hohneke (Wisconsin) had been first runner-up twice previously. While this was Jocelyn’s first year competing in the USA system, she is a former Miss Utah’s Outstanding Teen.
This was the first year the Miss Teen USA pageant has been directed by Laylah Rose, who was appointed President/CEO of the Miss USA & Teen USA Organization only seven weeks ago. I think it’s a miracle she and her team have been able to pull off all they has in such a short time. Miss USA 2023 will be crowned live on The CW, September 29..
Get to know Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava
UmaSofia Srivastava authored and illustrated her book, The White Jaguar, to inspire people of all ages to embrace what makes them unique. Throughout the book there are four languages: English, Spanish, Hindi, and French – all of which she speaks. UmaSofia is the co-founder of the Diversity & Inclusion campaign at her school, a Kind Campaign leader, and also participates in Mock Trial and Model UN. She runs her own blog, That’s Fan Behavior, where she writes about current events and her experience as a woman of color.
UmaSofia has worked with the Lotus Petal Foundation to help underprivileged children in India receive a well rounded education, proper nutrition and healthcare, and has also collected over 1000 books for the Bridge of Books Foundation to donate to inner-city kids in New Jersey.
You can view her full biography and photos of UmaSofia’s crowning and appearances as Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2023 on her titleholder profile. Check back regularly to see photos of her reign as Miss Teen USA 2023
