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Going with the flowSarah Wilkins is from Arizona, which is famous for its spectacular deserts. But she lives on a lake, and her life revolves around water. "I'm a fish girl," she says, pointing to her Pisces birth date. She was a nationally known competitive swimmer, captain of a swim team, until "I blew out my shoulder." Even now, she still swims twice every day. (That may be a little tough with her schedule in Shreveport.) | 
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| It was her zeal for fitness that got her into pageants. "A photographer saw me exercising in a gym," she recalls. "I was running on a treadmill." He told her she could be a beauty queen, which made her suspicious. But she gave competition a try, and in her first contest, she proved that he was correct. |
| With the swiftness of her success in pageants, she is eager to get her feet wet in modeling and acting. "I'm kind of hooked" on the glamour, she says. But the sea calls. Within a decade, she hopes to be a veterinarian specializing in marine mammals. She will be examining whales, delivering dolphins and doing whatever a doctor has to do for dugongs. And given the hard facts of geography, she probably won't be living in Arizona. A surprising quote from Sarah Wilkins: "I love sushi." | 
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Shreveport photos courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP, |
An instinct for successHow do you get ready for something as big as the Miss Teen USA Pageant? "I'm studying current events and trying to be prepared," said Ginneene Barone, "but sometimes I just can't help having fun. This is all so exciting." |
| Even though she has been on network television once before, performing with her high school dance team in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, she is new to the pageant world. Miss West Virginia Teen USA was her first competition. She sensed somehow that she might win -- "I could feel it when I filled out the application" -- but she suspected that every girl felt the same way. In her case, the feeling proved prophetic. "I was just myself and I won," she recalls, still sounding slightly surprised.
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 | She knows that the odds are against every contestant, that no girl is ever fully prepared, but she also knows that one girl has a rendezvous with destiny. West Virginia is an unusual state, still mostly rural, with remote areas of stunning natural beauty. But in every direction around it are the great urban areas of America. Ms. Barone dislikes the old myths that West Virginia is a backward, uncivilized place. It's just the opposite, she says. It's a relaxing place, a peaceful home, and what could be more civilized than that? |
| But when you're young and beautiful, there's a strong yearning to see more than your own back yard. Ms. Barone has seen Pittsburgh, she found New York "awesome," and now she's in Shreveport. It could be her gateway to the world.
Photos courtesy of Miss Universe L.P., LLLP | 
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Mighty CaseyPresident John F. Kennedy would have loved Miss Tennessee Teen USA. She has the face of Jacqueline Kennedy and the figure of Marilyn Monroe. Actually, that's a combination that just about anybody can appreciate. |
| Considering how Casey Porter looks, we were amazed when she described her experience as a model. "I've tried, but it didn't work out," she said. "I wasn't tall enough, I wasn't thin enough." It's just our opinion, of course, but if modeling doesn't have a place for this girl, there's something wrong with modeling. Ms. Porter, like so many of this year's Teen USA contestants, is an excellent dancer. The dance team at her high school won two national championships while she was a member. |
Pageant success has opened her eyes to a lot of opportunities, and she doesn't rule out trying a career in show business. But for now, she's planning to go into public relations. She is one of two famous Caseys from Tennessee. The other was Casey Jones, the heroic railroad man, but she isn't named for him. "My mother just liked the name," she said. The more we see of her, the more we like it, too.
Photo at right by Benjamin Gibbs / PNB,
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 | Crowd pleaserSome people say pageants are political. That kind of talk doesn't bother Caitlin McIntosh. Politics is her chosen field. "I want to be the first female governor of Missouri," says Ms. McIntosh, who will serve briefly as "shadow mayor" of her hometown after she returns from Miss Teen USA. She also has spoken to students throughout the state about family values and "keeping the lines of communication open with parents."
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| She's a dancer, "classically trained in all the disciplines," but also enjoys hip hop (which is not classical and not very disciplined, but apparently is a lot of fun). She is a sports acrobat, too, judging and coaching in addition to competing. She has "just been discovered" as a model, and she likes it. | 
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| Ms. McIntosh's mother is an Internet journalist who covered both the Democratic and Republican conventions this year, and Ms. McIntosh plans to study communications, broadcast journalism and community development on her way to a political career. She will miss the first week of college because of the pageant, but she's a very quick study. |
| She turned 18 a few weeks before the pageant. She's excited about voting this year for the first time, but since she's representing all Missourians, she doesn't publicly endorse any candidates. And we didn't even try to find out her opinions. Really good politicians never give those out until after Election Day.
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More on Miss Teen USA 2000 ... |
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