Pageant News Bureau - Summer Savage 2000

The winner:
Lauren Michelle Hill

Summer isn't over until Miss America has been chosen. It's not written in any book of laws, but it's the oldest tradition in the whole pageant world. You can look it up.

But in this year 2000, with the Miss America Pageant moved from mid-September to mid-October, it's a hard tradition to uphold.

The position of the heavens says fall is here. The invigorating breeze whispers the same message. And just look at those pumpkins! We have to keep reminding ourselves that it's still summer.

So we have set aside this moment to talk to you about the women of Summer Savage, a very different competition from Miss America. These women are guaranteed to remind you how pleasant the hot months can be.

Turn your back on the breeze. Ignore the pumpkins. Keep your eyes on those bikinis.

First runner-up:
Jennifer Corliss

Lauren Michelle Hill won the Summer Savage competition in late August (what we call early summer), besting a field of beautiful women at Cotton Eyed Joe in Knoxville. Jennifer Corliss was first runner-up. The array of young women was as spectacular as a field of wildflowers in the golden afternoon.

Are you in a summery mood? Check out the cover of the October 2000 issue of Playboy magazine. Yes, it's Lauren Michelle Hill, wearing her, uh, summer jeans.

Photos by Benjamin Gibbs / PNB

Ignore that equinox