Rani Williamson continues string of strong showings for Maine at Miss USA pageant

The state of Maine has done pretty well in the world of beauty pageants in recent years (Men’s Health magazine, you might recall, recently listed Portland second in the country in terms of “where the babes are” behind only D.C.).

And as I typically try to follow-up in this blog on stories I’d covered, I feel it’s worth pointing out here, in case you missed it, that reigning Miss Maine USA Rani Williamson made it to the round of 16 at last night’s nationwide competition.

As Miss Maine USA Executive Director Mackenzie Davis noted, this is the third straight year the Maine champ reached that high a round.

I covered the pageant at which Williamson, then Miss Bar Harbor although being a Cumberland native, received her Maine crown. (Here are some more interesting odds and ends from that pageant as well.) As I’ve mentioned before, Williamson already had some nationwide exposure before her string of beauty pageant success by way of her selection as a featured “Hometown Hottie” by Maxim magazine.

The overall winner at last night’s Miss USA contest, held in Las Vegas, was a fellow New Englander, Miss Rhode Island USA Olivia Culpo. Culpo will now move on to represent the country in the Miss Universe pageant.

Here are a couple pics of Rani Williamson at last night’s pageant, courtesy of the Miss Universe organization:

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.