Savvy Shields of Arkansas is chosen as Miss America 2017 in a grand event held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  She was crowned by Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell of Georgia as the winner.  The event was hosted by Chris Harrison & Sage Steele.

Miss America 2017, Summary of Results

Miss America 2017 •Arkansas – Savvy Shields 
1st runner-up •South Carolina South Carolina – Rachel Wyatt 
2nd runner-up •New York (state) New York – Camille Sims 
3rd runner-up •Washington (state) Washington – Alicia Cooper 
4th runner-up •Mississippi – Laura Lee Lewis

Savvy Shields is from Fayetteville.  This Die-hard fan of Beyoncé Knowles was preliminary Talent winner (of course, her talent was dancing) and had also won Miss Arkansas’s Outstanding Teen 2009.  The 21-year-old is currently a student at the University of Arkansas where she is majoring in art with a minor in business.

In the final round, Savvy Shields impressed everyone with her thoughts on Presidential election candidate Hillary Clinton – “If you’re trying to be leader of the free world, everything you say and do matters. And all of your actions are held to a higher standard. And unfortunately, the media does love to sensationalize everything.  It’s hard to decide what is truth and what is truly scandal. Both of the contestants have done a great job.”

Now Savvy will spend her year touring the country and promoting the platform of her interest.

Image source: Miss America Organization