A Southern Utah State College student was named Miss Utah 1991 Saturday and will represent Utah at the Miss America Pageant in September.
Miss Iron County, Jennifer Nakken, 19, performed a jazz dance and emerged from a predominantly Utah County finalist group to win the crown.Besides receiving appearance fees for the next year as Miss Utah, Nakken will receive about $10,000 in scholarships.
Nakken is a graduate of Cedar City High School and is studying dance education and nutrition at SUSC. She has 13 years of experience in dance. She's a choreographer, has experience in ballet and also plays the piano and flute.
Nakken takes over the crown from Miss Utah 1990 Jacque Dawn Tingey, who was co-master of ceremonies with Channel 5 weatherman Kent Norton at the finals held at Mountain View High School.
The first runner-up is Miss American Fork, Michelle Beck. Second runner-up is Miss Utah Valley, Elizabeth Anne Johnson. Third runner-up is Miss Springville, Sally Taylor. And Miss Utah Valley Community College, Sherie North, is fourth runner-up.
The other finalists were Miss Utah State Fair, Kerilyn Low; Miss Murray, Jenifer Lynn Chandler; Miss Payson, Marcii Ith; Miss Weber County, Trisha Nan Chandler; and Miss South Jordan, Jennifer Bateman.
Talent winners were Miss Springville, Sally Taylor; Miss Payson, Marcii Ith; and Miss American Fork, Michelle Beck.
Besides the talent winners, several non-finalists were also honored.
The Quality of Life Award was presented to Miss Richfield, Wendy Hendrickson. The award consisted of a $1,000 scholarship for her community service. Other community-service awards were presented to Miss Beaver County, Kimberly Brown; Miss Salt Lake Valley, Wendy Burch; Miss Salem, Sheree Hansen; and Miss Sanpete County, Sherene Beazer.