Miss New York dances her way to Miss America title

Nevada did not win Miss America.

The crown went to Miss New York Mallory Hytes Hagan, a 23-year-old from Brooklyn, N.Y., who tap danced to James Brown for her talent and came out against armed guards in schools. Contestants were from 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Miss Nevada has never won. The best she's ever done is second runner-up in 1987. But that's OK; the title will come one day, says Ellie Smith, 16. She is the reigning Miss Nevada's Outstanding Teen and one of thousands who watched Miss America at Planet Hollywood on Saturday.

"It's going to happen. Hopefully, tonight," Smith said before the pageant started. "I'm rooting for her."

But the odds were 75-to-1 against Miss Nevada Randi Sundquist winning. It's not legal to bet on the Miss America contest but Johnny Avello, director of race and sports operations for Wynn and Encore, posted odds for entertainment purposes only.

Local Veronica Glover has a theory as to why Nevada remains winless. A Texas native and a pageant fan, Glover has served as a seat filler at Miss America for the past few years. She loves the pageant spectacle, fashion and the occasional big hairdo.

"It's because they don't train them," Glover said. "In your pageant states, as I like to call them, they have that pageant culture. I think it's harder to win when you're from a state that doesn't have that."

She was rooting for Miss Texas.

Hagan is the first Miss America from Brooklyn and the fourth from New York state. The previous winner from that state was actress Vanessa Williams, who became the first black winner when she took the crown in 1984.

Hagan defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third.

She wins a $50,000 college scholarship and gets the crown for one year. Her platform, the issue she will promote during her reign, is fighting child sexual abuse. She said the issue is close to her heart because the women in her family themselves grappled with sexual abuse.

This was the eighth year Miss America was crowned in Las Vegas. Like previous years, the event was colorful, attracting junior beauty queens and friends and family of contestants from around the country. A sea of people filed into the theater two hours before the show started with supporters carrying homemade signs and posters featuring their favored contestants. Some were at the pageant but wanted to be elsewhere.

One woman, rushing through the lobby to make the seating deadline, held an iPhone to her mouth. "Siri, what's the score for the Denver Bronco game?" she asked.

Antonio Gutierrez, an assistant professor in educational psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas , was attending his first Miss America. It's a great way to see unadulterated human behavior, he said.

"I used to have a relatively negative opinion of these kinds of things," said Gutierrez , who was a seat filler for the show. "It's focused on beauty, external appearance and here I am attempting to convey to people that it's what's on the inside that matters."

But Gutierrez is always telling his students to avoid bias and judgment until they have all the information about a topic. And that's ultimately why he attended Miss America. "It will be a learning experience," he said.

While superficiality is the order of the day for beauty contests, many of the people involved have rich histories. That's what makes the Miss America circuit so special, said Jessica Littlejohn, 21.

"Miss America cares about our stories," said Littlejohn, a Nebraska native and the current Miss Crane Watch Festival.

Littlejohn hopes to win the Miss Nebraska title and compete in Miss America within the next couple of years. Her platform is Kidpower Stranger Danger. When Littlejohn was 4, she was nearly abducted by a stranger in a Primm casino. She has clear memories of struggling to get away.

"Over 40,000 kids are taken every day. If they know the skills they need to have in those situations, then that number will decrease," Littlejohn said.

Pageants have helped Littlejohn overcome obstacles throughout her life. Her passion for competing remained strong, even when she was injured in the line of duty two years ago.

Littlejohn was making an appearance at the Scottsbluff County Fair with several other beauty queens in 2010 when she was attacked by a bull. As Littlejohn was being introduced, the other beauty queens saw the bull and ran. Just as Littlejohn raised her hand, acknowledging the crowd, the bull struck her in the side, tossing her into the air. The women were all wearing bright pink or red shirts.

"It's just a miracle that there was a video," said her mother, Marcy.

Littlejohn doesn't remember the accident. She has struggled with memory loss but is determined to finish college and continue with her pageant plan. She maintains a sense of humor about the bull incident; it helps her keep life in perspective.

"Seven more seconds on the bull and I would have won the belt buckle," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564. Follow @StripSonya on Twitter.