Miss USA 1985
Date	May 13, 1985
Presenters	Bob Barker and Joan Van Ark
Entertainment	Kool and The Gang, Lee Greenwood
Venue	Lakeland Civic Auditorium, Lakeland, Florida
Broadcaster	CBS, WTVT WCPX-TV
Entrants	51
Placements	10
Winner	Laura Harring Texas
Congeniality	Martha Browning Tennessee
Photogenic	Robyn Overbey Kentucky
← 1984 1986 →

Miss USA 1985 was the 34th Miss USA pageant, televised live from the Lakeland Civic Auditorium in Lakeland, Florida on May 13, 1985, in honor of the city's centennial anniversary with a special cameo appearance by Mayor Thomas R. Shaw. At the conclusion of the final competition, Laura Harring of Texas was crowned Miss USA 1985 by outgoing titleholder Mai Shanley of New Mexico.

Miss USA 1985 opening titles

Harring was the first Latina to win the crown. She later became an actress, appearing in a number of films including Mulholland Drive and as John Travolta's character's wife in The Punisher.

Results

Placements

Final Competition

State	Preliminary Average	Interview	Swimsuit	Evening Gown	Semifinal Average
Texas	9.140 (1)	9.155 (3)	9.222 (1)	9.466 (1)	9.281 (1)
New Mexico	8.881 (2)	8.822 (6)	9.177 (2)	9.111 (2)	9.036 (4)
Illinois	8.558 (7)	9.288 (2)	9.033 (5)	8.833 (10)	9.051 (3)
Louisiana	8.597 (5)	9.311 (1)	9.100 (3)	9.033 (5)	9.148 (2)
Minnesota	8.536 (9)	8.855 (5)	9.066 (4)	9.033 (5)	8.984 (5)
Arizona	8.536 (9)	8.611 (9)	9.012 (6)	9.100 (3)	8.907 (6)
Missouri	8.562 (6)	8.722 (7)	8.955 (7)	8.866 (8)	8.847 (7)
Hawaii	8.544 (8)	8.900 (4)	8.688 (9)	8.933 (7)	8.840 (8)
Massachusetts	8.721 (4)	8.700 (8)	8.788 (8)	8.855 (9)	8.781 (9)
Oklahoma	8.870 (3)	8.611 (9)	8.677 (10)	9.044 (4)	8.777 (10)

Historical significance

• Texas wins competition for the second time.
• New Mexico earns the 1st runner-up position for the first time and reached its highest placement since Mai Shanley won in the previous year.
• Illinois earns the 2nd runner-up position for the first time.
• Louisiana earns the 3rd runner-up position for the third time. The last time it placed this was in 1983.
• Minnesota earns the 4th runner-up position for the first time.
• States that placed in semifinals the previous year were Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
• Texas placed for the eleventh consecutive year.
• Oklahoma placed for the third consecutive year.
• Illinois, Missouri and New Mexico made their second consecutive placement.
• Louisiana last placed in 1983.
• Hawaii and Massachusetts last placed in 1982.
• Arizona last placed in 1981.
• Minnesota last placed in 1980.

Delegates

The Miss USA 1985 delegates were:^[1]

State	Name	Hometown	Age1	Height	Placement	Awards	Notes
Alabama	Allison Sawyer	Birmingham	20	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Alaska	Kari Moore	Fairbanks	18	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Arizona	Michelle Ducote	Tempe	22	5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (179 cm)	Top 10
Arkansas	Susan Dean	Osceola	23	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
California	Zina Ponder	Long Beach	22	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Colorado	Lynnette Jessen	Denver	23	5 ft 8+1⁄2 in (174 cm)			Previously Miss Colorado 1981
Connecticut	Adrianne Hazelwood	Hamden	18	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)			Previously Miss Wisconsin Teen USA 1984
Delaware	Sheila Saints	Wilmington	21	5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
District of Columbia	Christal Chacon	Washington, D.C.	18	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Florida	Barbi Losh	North Miami Beach	21	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Georgia	Amanda Smith	Smyrna	24	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Hawaii	Tina Machado	Honolulu	25	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)	Top 10
Idaho	Sheri Rose	Boise	24	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Illinois	Laura Bach	Elmhurst	23	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	2nd runner-up
Indiana	Theresa Hobbs	Bloomington	23	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Iowa	Devin Steinberg	Manson	21	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Kansas	Jill Denzin	Leawood	21	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Kentucky	Robyn Overbey	Calvert City	24	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)		Miss Photogenic
Louisiana	Sarie Joubert	Shreveport	22	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	3rd runner-up
Maine	Tracie Samara	Portland	22	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Maryland	Christine Marie	Baldwin	20	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Massachusetts	Mercedes Waggoner	Boston	21	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)	Top 10
Michigan	Nancy Mazuro	Washington	17	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Minnesota	Kari Lee Johnson	Minneapolis	20	5 ft 8+1⁄2 in (174 cm)	4th runner-up
Mississippi	Camille Gilliland	Meridian	19	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Missouri	Amy Coverdale	Columbia	22	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)	Top 10
Montana	Julie Knox	Bozeman	19	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Nebraska	Lori Straight	Omaha	20	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Nevada	Alicia Berger	Las Vegas	19	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)			Entertainment reporter for KVBC-DT and regular contributor for Access Hollywood
New Hampshire	Janice LaCroix	Manchester	21	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)			Originally first runner-up after Rhonda Niles dethroned due to stealing clothes during the state pageant competition
New Jersey	Francie Knapp	Linwood	24	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
New Mexico	Brenda Denton	Hobbs	21	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)	1st runner-up		Represented the United States in Miss World 1985 where she placed as Second Runner Up
New York	Lovey King	Yonkers	20	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
North Carolina	Kate Kenney	Raleigh	23	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
North Dakota	Regina Schatz	Fargo	22	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Ohio	Lisa Barlow	Vandalia	22	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Oklahoma	Sophia Henderson	Tulsa	21	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)	Top 10
Oregon	Jodi Unruh	Eugene	20	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Pennsylvania	Sandi Ferguson	Jefferson Hills	18	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Rhode Island	Dana Wilson	Riverside	21	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
South Carolina	Ann Margarete Hughes	Summerville	23	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
South Dakota	Stacey Arnold	Rapid City	21	5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm)
Tennessee	Martha Browning	Chattanooga	24	5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm)		Miss Congeniality	First deaf Miss USA contestant.[2]
Texas	Laura Harring	El Paso	21	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)	Winner		Born in Mexico
Utah	Kim Thompson	Salt Lake City	18	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Vermont	Angie Cummingham	Rutland	20	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Virginia	Dana Bryant	Richmond	18	5 ft 7+1⁄2 in (171 cm)
Washington	Sherry Rials	Bellevue	23	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
West Virginia	Lorre Lewis	Barboursville	20	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Wisconsin	Deborah Lynn Strauss	Thiensville	22	5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Wyoming	Wendy Hartwigsen	Gillette	19	5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (179 cm)

Judges

• Breck Jamieson
• Patricia Maxwell
• Rory Calhoun
• Robert Hirschfeld
• Jean Ruth Scott
• Syd Mead
• Jimmy Messina
• Terri Utley, Miss USA 1982 from Arkansas
• Martha Smith
• Eric Dickerson
• Richard Anderson