Tarpey, 21, was crowned Miss Connecticut in June. She survived the cut far enough to take part in the talent competition as the number of contestants was cut from 53 (one from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) to 15 and then to 12. The red-haired beauty performed an Irish Step Dance to a selection from "Riverdance" as her talent.
Tarpey, a Stamford resident, is a graduate of Loomis Chaffee School and now attends Pace University Honor's College.
The Top 5 contestants were, according to the Miss America website:
- Fourth runner-up: Miss Minnesota - Rebecca Yeh
- Third runner-up: Miss Florida - Myrrhanda Jones
- Second runner-up: Miss Oklahoma - Kelsey Griswold
- First runner-up: Miss California - Crystal Lee
- And the winner was Miss New York - Nina Davuluri
Davuluri is the first winner of Indian descent and the second straight Miss America to come from the Empire State.
The other Top 10 contestants, in alphabetical order by state, were:
- Miss Connecticut - Kaitlyn Tarpey
- Miss Georgia - Carly Mathis
- Miss Kansas - Theresa Vail
- Miss Maryland - Christina Denny
- Miss Texas - Ivana Hall
?Read more about Miss Connecticut Kaitlyn Tarpey here on The Daily Voice.
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