Teresa Scanlan: Miss America 2011 is Only 17 [PHOTOS/ VIDEO]

Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011, is only 17!

Teresa Scanlan of Nebraska is our new Miss America 2011, and at 17 years old, she is one of the youngest Miss Americas, but believe it or not, there have been Miss America winners younger than her.

Amazingly enough, the youngest winners were only 15. Marian Bergeron of West Haven, Connecticut was 15 when she won the title of Miss America in 1933. Margaret Gorman of Washington D.C. (Miss America 1921) and Mary Campbell of Columbus, Ohio (Miss America 1922 & 1923, the only woman to win twice) both won the title at the tender age of 16.

Teresa Scanlan is the first ever Miss America winner from Nebraska. Scanlan was not only crowned Miss America 2011, she also won a $50,000 scholarship. Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady was first runner-up, and Miss Hawaii Jalee Fuselier came in third.

A resident of Gering, Nebraska, Teresa Scanlan, graduated high school last year and plans to attend Patrick Henry College in Virginia after her year of being Miss America is up. Her plans for the future are to become a judge and eventually a politician.

Teresa Scanlan gave her opinion on WikiLeaks to the Miss America judges: “You know when it came to that situation it was actually based on espionage, and when it comes to the security of our nation, we have to focus on security first and then people’s right to know, because it’s so important that everybody who’s in our borders is safe and so we can’t let things like that happen and they must be handled properly,” she said.

Video of Teresa Scanlan being crowned Miss America 2011:

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