2016 Miss USA Crowned - Deshauna Barber!
How did Miss Vermont USA 2016 Neely Fortune do in the Miss USA pageant Sunday night?
Fortune, a former Christian Brothers Academy student who left Syracuse her senior year of high school for Vermont with her family, stood out among the 52 contestants with her background in endurance fitness and wildlife biology. She even raised a few eyebrows when she introduced herself during the Fox broadcast, and some viewers thought she said her name was "Wheel of Fortune."
However, Fortune did not make the top 15 in the 2016 Miss USA pageant. Women from Washington, D.C., Alabama, California, West Virginia, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Missouri, Connecticut, Hawaii, Arkansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Virginia made the first cut Sunday night.
The top 10 finalists were beauty queens representing Virginia, Alabama, California, Georgia, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Missouri, Arkansas, South Dakota and Hawaii
Ultimately, Deshauna Barber, representing the District of Columbia, was crowned Miss USA 2016.
Fortune, who resides in Burlington, Vt., campaigned on the importance of fitness and maintaining a life balance athletically, intellectually and socially. She says she hopes to "inspire young women to be authentic to who they are, embrace what makes them different, and to never let labels define them."
As an endurance athlete, she ran in 40 races over the past two years, including conquering the grueling obstacle course known as the Spartan Race. Fortune was one of only 12 people to finish the competition"s most challenging event, the 48-hour Death Race, which includes running marathon distances while carrying 70-pound rocks.
While in Las Vegas for preliminary competitions this past week, the PTSD awareness advocate even challenged UFC fighters Cub Swanson and Kelvin Gastelum to 22 push ups in support of the #22Kill campaign to raise awareness to veteran suicide and mental health issues.
According to her official Miss Vermont USA biography, she graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in wildlife biology and plans to get her master"s in Natural Resources via the Peace Corps "Masters International" program. Fortune ultimately hopes to have a career as a wildlife biologist and work to preserve natural resources.
Her experiences include spending a semester living in a tent in Chile, studying wildlife, and month-long treks to Alaska and the Rockies through the National Outdoors Leadership School (NOLS).
The Miss Universe organization says Fortune, 24, can identify more than 130 species of trees and over 100 birds by song.
See photos of Fortune and all 52 Miss USA contestants in the preliminary competitions below:
Source: http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/06/miss_usa_2016_neely_fortune_vermont_syracuse_results.html
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