Miss Tennessee Hayley Lewis became the second Scenic City Pageants contestant in the last three Miss America Pageants to finish in the top 10 late Sunday evening in Atlantic City.
The former Miss Tennessee Valley who won the state title in June receives a $7,000 scholarship which she will apply towards her Music Business studies at Belmont University. Miss Tennessee 2012 Chandler Lawson was a top 10 finalist at the 2013 pageant which was held last January in Las Vegas and Miss Tennessee 2009 Stefanie Wittler of Soddy Daisy was the second runner-up to Miss America 2010.
Kira Kazantsev scored a hat trick for New York as the Empire State made Miss America history by becoming the first state to produce three consecutive winners. The Hofstra University student who is of Russian heritage sang the Pharrell Williams hit “Happy” while playing the solo cups which became popular in the film “Pitch Perfect”.
Miss Alabama Caitlin Brunell was also among the top 10 finalists. Miss Georgia Maggie Bridges who is a student at Georgia Tech was one of five recipients of the $5,000 Miss America STEM scholarships as the organization is encouraging more young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.