Non-finalist 2013, 1st runner-up Miss Maine Teen USA 2012
A native of Standish, Miss Maine USA 2016 Marisa Butler represented Maine at the Miss USA 2016 pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. While she didn’t make the cut at Miss USA that year, Marisa went on to hold both the Miss World America title, placing in the top 30 at Miss World 2016, and the Miss Earth US title, placing first runner-up at Miss Earth 2021!
Miss Maine USA 2016 Marisa Butler was born in Portland Maine, and has lived in the beautiful town of Standish her whole life. She is the daughter of small business owners Walter and Debra Butler. She attended Bonny Eagle High School where she graduated in the top ten of her class with over a 4.0 weighted GPA. She currently is in her last year at Stonehill College in Easton Massachusetts, where she is pursuing a degree in Economics with a minor in Business and is a member of the College Dean’s List.
Marisa has always been an avid athlete, and was fortunate enough to participate in all her high school sports at the collegiate level as well. During her first year at Stonehill, Marisa was a member of their Division II Varsity Soccer Team as a goal keeper. The spring semester of her freshman year she then joined the college’s club cheering team, and captured a national champion title in 2013. The following year she tried out for her school’s nationally ranked Varsity Lacrosse Team, and made the cut! Her team went on to the NE10 Championships, and finished in the semifinal game to the team that would eventually go on to win the national Division II Women’s Lacrosse title that year.
In the spring semester of Marisa’s junior year of college she studied abroad at the prestigious King’s College London. While there, Marisa was afforded the opportunity to walk in a London Fashion Week event for Lungta De Fancy. This event was a private fashion show for investors at their Flagship Store in London, where she was able to work directly with the designer. One of her favorite memories while traveling abroad was hiking the volcanic mountain Mt. Vesuvius, and exploring the ruins of Pompeii.
Aside from hiking, traveling and sports, some of Marisa’s hobbies include singing opera, boating and fishing. She has received international attention for her volunteer work tagging sharks through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Corporative Tagging Program, a federally funded program that has been studying sharks for over fifty years. This program relies on the help of recreational anglers, such as Marisa, to collect data on these impressive and misunderstood predators.
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Marisa competed for the title of Miss Maine Teen USA back in the fall of 2011, where she placed First Runner Up. In addition, Marisa is a three-time Miss Maine (MAO) runner-up and was first runner-up in 2013 and 2014. In 2013 she represented Maine at Miss National Sweetheart.
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The on-stage moments, the tension of the final two and the glory of the crowning, here are Marisa’s state pageant photos.
Lights, camera, action! Professional photoshoots are one of the perks that comes from winning a title.
There’s nothing better than watching a contestant progress from year to year! Here’s a look back at Marisa’s previous pageant photos.
All beautiful things must come to an end, no matter how bittersweet. See Marisa’s farewell walk and other candids from the weekend she crowned her successor Brooke Harris as Miss Maine USA 2017.
Marisa went on to win Miss World America 2018, placing top 30 at Miss World, and then Miss Earth US 2021. At Miss Earth she was crowned “Miss Earth-Air”, the elemental title given to the first runner-up.
