1st runner-up 2020, Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2016
A native of Lincoln, Erika Etzelmiller was crowned Miss Nebraska USA on 16 May 2021 and represented Nebraska at the Miss USA 2021 pageant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During her reign she was a second-year student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry and volunteered her dental services in the community.
Erika was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. All through her four years of college, Erika was a Division 1 athlete on the University of Nebraska Cheerleading squad. During her time on the squad, she received the highest academic honor award and held the social media manager position. Currently, Erika is in her second year of dental school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry. She hopes to one day open her own dental practice and is grateful to be actively working towards that goal.
Combining her passion for dentistry and her desire to serve her community, Erika began “The 400 Fund”, an organization dedicated to generating proceeds to provide Nebraska’s underserved communities with free dental care. While shadowing at the People’s City Mission Dental Clinic in college, Erika was able to witness firsthand the need across Nebraska for a clinic that offers free dental care and it is her hope that through The 400 Fund, underserved communities are able to get the funding for the necessary dental care they deserve.
The on-stage moments, the tension of the final two and the glory of the crowning, here are Erika’s state pageant photos.
Lights, camera, action! Professional photoshoots are one of the perks that comes from winning a title.
Erika was Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2016 and then was first runner-up to Megan Swanson at Miss Nebraska USA 2020.
All beautiful things must come to an end, no matter how bittersweet. See Erika’s farewell walk and other candids from the weekend she crowned her successor Natalie Pieper as Miss Nebraska USA 2022.
Winning a state title is a sisterhood for life. Here are Erika’s “after the crown” photos.