Defying the odds in Las Vegas, Miss New York Mallory Hagan won the title of Miss America 2013 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino last night.
The 23-year-old is an Alabama girl who moved to Brooklyn, NY several years ago to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. She has crowned Miss Brooklyn in 2010 and Miss New York City in 2011 before winning the state pageant in 2012.
Hagan tap-danced to ‘Get Up Offa That Thing’ and scored big with the judges on the question, ‘Do armed guards belong in grade schools?’ She responded that she didn’t think the proper way to fight violence was with more violence. She believes that gun safety classes and longer waiting periods to purchase guns are better solutions.
Miss New York was a dark horse in the competition based on the fact that she was not named a winner in any of the categories during three nights of stiff preliminary competition. The past six Miss America’s have actually won Night 1 preliminary competition scholarships in either talent or swimsuit.
On Wednesday, the first night of preliminary competition Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton won the talent award and Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers won the Lifestyle & Fitness competition. We had one of them pegged as a shoe-in for the title. They ended up as 2nd and 1nd runner-up respectively. So much for patterns and theories…
Check out video of Mallory Hagan’s shocked reaction when she was crowned Miss America 2013 after the jump:
Photos: Judy Eddy-WENN