Miss America 1979
Kylene Barker as Miss America 1979
Date	September 9, 1978
Presenters	Bert Parks[1]
Venue	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Broadcaster	NBC
Winner	Kylene Barker Virginia

Miss America 1979, the 52nd Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 9, 1978 on NBC Network.

Kylene Barker was the first Miss Virginia to win the crown.

Results

Delegates

State	Name	Hometown	Age	Talent	Placement	Awards	Notes
Alabama	Teresa Cheatham	Wellington	20	Operatic Vocal, "This Is My Beloved" from "Kismet"	1st runner-up	Preliminary Swimsuit Preliminary Talent
Alaska	Patty-Jo Gentry	Valdez
Arizona	Susan Kohler	Tempe
Arkansas	Naylene Vuurens	Searcy
California	Christine Louise Acton	Chula Vista				Non-finalist Talent
Colorado	Catherine Brown	Littleton
Connecticut	Maryalice Flintroy	Meriden				Non-finalist Talent
Delaware	Janice Anne Albro	Claymont				Preliminary Swimsuit
Florida	Carolyn Cline	Brandon	25	Piano and Vocal, Theme from "Love Story"	2nd runner-up	Preliminary Talent
Georgia	Deborah Mosely	Atlanta
Hawaii	Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey	Laie
Idaho	Kimberly Jensen	Caldwell				Non-finalist Talent
Illinois	Debra Carlson	Ottawa				Non-finalist Talent
Indiana	Terry Kaiser	Etna Green
Iowa	Mary England	Davenport
Kansas	Lori Ann Bergen	Salina	20	Violin solo, "Czárdás"/"Orange Blossom Special"	Top 10	Preliminary Talent
Kentucky	Marcia Bell	Lexington	21	Vocal, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"	Top 10
Louisiana	Phyllis Kelly	Baton Rouge	20	Operatic Vocal, "Italian Street Song" by Victor Herbert	Top 10
Maine	Linda Carroll	Alfred
Maryland	Caroline JoAnn Donnelly	College Park
Massachusetts	Rowena Humphrey	Worthington
Michigan	Suzanne M. Schemm	Essexville
Minnesota	Sue Erickson	Coon Rapids				Preliminary Swimsuit
Mississippi	Cheri Brown	Meridian				Preliminary Swimsuit
Missouri	Tamara Fister	Poplar Bluff
Montana	Vanessa Ochsner	Missoula
Nebraska	Guylyn Remmenga	Elwood	21	Piano solo	Top 10	Preliminary Talent
Nevada	Megan Anderson	Reno				Non-finalist Talent
New Hampshire	Belinda Bridgeman	Merrimack
New Jersey	Laurie Berchtold	Ocean City
New Mexico	Jennifer Leigh Schubert	Hobbs
New York	Paula Pope	Lockport
North Carolina	Deborah Shook	Spruce Pine				Non-finalist Talent
North Dakota	Shelia Lindeman	Linton
Ohio	Sher Lynnette Patrick	Centerville	19	Modern interpretation of traditional Middle Eastern dance	3rd runner-up
Oklahoma	Kendi Brown	Oklahoma City
Oregon	Amy White	Portland
Pennsylvania	Charmaine Kowalski	State College
Rhode Island	Lori Leyden	Providence
South Carolina	Mary Diane Toole	Aiken				Non-finalist Talent
South Dakota	Jennifer Holt	Mitchell
Tennessee	Jill Beshears	Memphis
Texas	Sandi Miller	Mesquite	20	Piano solo, Selections from "Nocture for the left hand, Op. 9, No.2" by Alexander Scriabin; "2nd Concerto in G Minor, Opus 22" by Camille Saint-Saens, and "An American in Paris", by George Gershwin	Top 10
Utah	Jami Coombs	Tremonton
Vermont	Lisa Volkert	Middlebury
Virginia	Kylene Barker	Galax	22	Acrobatic dance routine to "Gonna Fly Now" from "Rocky"	Winner
Washington	Laurie Nelson	Gig Harbor	19	Vocal, "Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair?"	4th runner-up
West Virginia	Ivy Meadows	St. Albans
Wisconsin	Carin Kizewic	Racine
Wyoming	Kim Pring	Cheyenne				Non-finalist Talent

Judges

• Neil J. Walsh
• Mary Longely
• Jerry Vale
• Dr. Glenn Whitesides
• Eileen Dole
• Ray Sach Shroder
• Renee Valente
• Janet Langhart

References

External links

• Miss America official website