Kalie Kathleen Wright (born April 27, 1993) is an American

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

titleholder from

Twin Falls, Idaho Twin Falls is the county seat and largest city of Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The city had a population of 51,807 as of the 2020 census. In the Magic Valley region, Twin Falls is the largest city in a radius, and is the regiona ...

who was crowned Miss National Sweetheart 2014 and

Miss Idaho The Miss Idaho scholarship program is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Idaho in the Miss America pageant. The current titleholder receives a $4,000 cash scholarship to any accredited institution of her choice. Sh ...

2015. She competed for the

Miss America 2016 Miss America 2016, the 89th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 13, 2015. It was broadcast on ABC and streamed to mobile devices and Xbox 360 consoles via the WatchABC app. Tick ...

title in September 2015. In 2017, she was crowned Miss Minnesota USA 2018 and represented Minnesota at

Miss USA 2018 Miss USA 2018 was the 67th Miss USA pageant. It was held on May 21, 2018 at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey hosted for the first time, while Carson Kressley and Lu Sierra served as commenta ...

Early life and education

Wright is a native of

Kimberly, Idaho Kimberly is a city in Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The population was 3,264 at the 2010 census, up from 2,614 in 2000.Kimberly High School. The oldest of three children, Wright's parents are Brett and Shelly Wright. Wright attended Blue Mountain Community College in Pendelton, Oregon, on a

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

scholarship. She left Blue Mountain after reconsidering her career path. Wright returned to Idaho and earned an associate degree in

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

from the

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Until the foundation of the College of Western Idaho in 2007, CSI was one of only two ...

Pageant career

Early pageants

Wright began performing publicly when she was 8 years old and started entering pageants to become eligible to compete for the

title in 2011. In July 2012, Wright won the Miss Magic Valley 2013 title. She competed in the 2013 Miss Idaho pageant on a platform of "The W.O.R.T.H. Project: Salute, Serve, Succeed" and performed on the piano during the talent portion of the competition. She was named a Top-11 semifinalist for the state title. She also won the Idaho Outdoor Heritage Award during the competition. On November 2, 2013, Wright won the Miss Gate City 2014 title. She competed in the 2014 Miss Idaho pageant on a platform of "Operation Homefront" and gave a vocal performance during the talent portion of the competition. She was named first runner-up to winner Sierra Sandison. As first runner-up, Wright was invited to represent Idaho at the

National Sweetheart Miss National Sweetheart is a United States beauty pageant created in 1941 where runners-up from the Miss America state pageants are invited to Hoopeston, Illinois to compete for the title of Miss National Sweetheart, and the name of the title held ...

pageant in

Hoopeston, Illinois Hoopeston () is a city in Grant Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 4,915. History Hoopeston was laid out in 1871. It was named for Thomas Hoopes, one of the men who offered lan ...

. On August 31, 2014, she was named Miss National Sweetheart 2014, the first woman from Idaho to claim that national title.

Miss Idaho 2015

On July 25, 2014, Wright was crowned Miss Magic Valley 2015 which made her eligible to compete at the 2015 Miss Idaho pageant. Entering the state pageant in June 2015, Wright's preliminary competition talent was a vocal performance of " Up to the Mountain" by

Patty Griffin Patricia Jean Griffin (born March 16, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.Griffin, Patrici She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs ha ...

. Her platform is "Operation Homefront", providing assistance to military families and wounded veterans. Wright won the competition on Saturday, June 20, 2015, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Idaho titleholder Sierra Sandison. In addition to the state crown, Wright won preliminary talent and swimsuit awards, the marketing award, and was an honorable mention to the Miracle Maker Award. She earned more than $10,000 in scholarship money and prizes from the state pageant. As Miss Idaho, her activities include public appearances across the state of Idaho.

Vying for Miss America 2016

Wright was Idaho's representative at the

pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September 2015. In the televised finale on September 13, 2015, she placed outside the Top 15 semi-finalists and was eliminated from competition. She was awarded a $3,000 scholarship prize as her state's representative. In addition, Wright was awarded a $1,000 Non-Finalist Talent scholarship for her vocal and guitar performance.

Miss Minnesota USA 2018

Wright previously competed in the Miss Minnesota USA 2017 on November 28, 2016, placing 1st Runner-Up to Meridith Gould. On November 26, 2017, competed in the Miss Minnesota USA 2018 and won the competition and she represented

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

References

External links

Kalie Wright official websiteMiss Idaho official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Kalie Living people 1993 births American beauty pageant winners College of Southern Idaho alumni Miss America 2016 delegates People from Twin Falls County, Idaho Miss USA 2018 delegates