23-year old Miss New York Mallory Hytest Hagan was crowned Saturday as Miss America, but Miss Wyoming Lexie Madden of Torrington was named 3rd-runnerup. It’s the best finish by a Miss Wyoming since Carol Held was the first runner-up 65 years ago.

The 21-year old Madden…who attends the University of Wyoming…played an original composition on the piano as her talent, and has a  pageant platform of “Raising Awareness of the Importance of Physical Activity in Youth.” Her career goal is to be a pediatric physical therapist and provide rehabilitation care for children.

Failing the make the cut as finalists were Miss Nebraska Mariah Cook of Chadron…a senior at Chadron State College…and Miss South Dakota Calista Kirby…a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a 3-year cheerleader at Nebraska-Lincoln.

This year’s Miss America Pageant had 16 finalists. Miss Montana Alexis Wineman won the ABC America’s Choice, an online competition where each contestant prepared a short video and viewers picked one finalist, while Miss Washington Mandy Schendel was the Judge’s Choice…a surprise on-air joint addition by the judges.

Only 12 of the 16 finalists advanced to Eveningwear, 10 made it to Talent, and just 5 reached the on-stage question. Madden was the last of the 5 to be questioned, asked by co-host McKayla Maroney if parents are being too quick to medicate for attention deficit disorder.

Her answer: “It comes down to a parent’s choice. but ultimately if they want to medicate their child they also need to look for alternative options to truly fix the problem and not just cover it up with medication.”