Sarah Rose Summers

Sarah Rose Summers
Summers in Hollywood, California in 2018
Born	(1994-11-04) November 4, 1994 (age 27) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Alma mater	Texas Christian University
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Spouse(s)	Conner Combs ​ (m. 2019)​
Beauty pageant titleholder
Title	Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2012 Miss Nebraska USA 2018 Miss USA 2018
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Brown
Major competition(s)	Miss Teen USA 2012 (Unplaced) Miss USA 2018 (Winner) Miss Universe 2018 (Top 20)

Sarah Rose Summers (born November 4, 1994) is an American model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2018. As Miss USA, she represented the United States at Miss Universe 2018, where she placed in the top twenty.^[1] Previously, Summers was crowned Miss Nebraska USA 2018 and went on to become the first woman from Nebraska to win the Miss USA title.^[2] She is a member of the sorority Zeta Tau Alpha.

Life and career[]

Early life[]

Summers was born on November 4, 1994, in Omaha, Nebraska, and grew up in Papillion in the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area.^[3][4] At four years old, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).^[5]

She graduated from Papillion-La Vista South High School, and later earned two degrees cum laude from Texas Christian University in child development and strategic communication, with a minor in business.^[6]

Summers worked as a certified child life specialist prior to becoming Miss USA.^[7][8][9]

Pageantry[]

Summers (far left) and other Miss Teen USA 2012 state titleholders at Miss USA 2012 in Las Vegas

Summers began her pageantry career at age ten, having convinced her parents to allow her to compete in pageants when they received a postcard advertisement for a local child beauty pageant.^[10][11] After four years of competing, she won the title of National American Miss Nebraska Junior Teen 2009.^[12] She went on to represent Nebraska at the national pageant and was crowned the 2009–2010 National American Miss Junior Teen.^[13][14] In 2012, Summers was crowned Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2012. She represented Nebraska at Miss Teen USA 2012 at Atlantis Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas, but was unplaced.^[15][16] At the end of her reign, she crowned Jasmine Fuelberth as her successor.^[17] After a hiatus, Summers returned to pageantry and competed in Miss Nebraska USA 2016, where she placed as the second runner-up, losing to Sarah Hollins.^[18]

In 2018, Summers was crowned Miss Nebraska USA 2018 by Fuelberth, who was the outgoing titleholder. At Miss Nebraska USA 2018, Summers represented Omaha.^[19]

Miss USA 2018[]

After winning Miss Nebraska USA, Summers earned the right to represent Nebraska at Miss USA 2018, held at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana.^[20] She won the competition, beating out first runner-up Caelynn Miller-Keyes of North Carolina and second runner-up Carolina Urrea of Nevada, becoming the first woman from Nebraska to win Miss USA.^{[21][22][23][24][6]} After winning Miss USA, she crowned Bree Coffey as her Miss Nebraska USA successor; pageant protocol states that the two titles cannot be held coterminously as her new Miss USA duties would have interfered with her duties as Miss Nebraska USA.

At the national competition, co-host Vanessa Lachey asked the following: "You are on your way to a march where someone hands you a blank sign and a marker. What do you put on your sign and why?"

"...I say 'Speak your voice'. I don't know what march we're on our way to in this hypothetical situation, but no matter where you're going, whatever type of march it is, you're obviously on your way to that march because you care about that cause so go speak to people. When they have questions, communicate with them. Listen to their views also. That is one thing in the United States that we really need to focus on is listening to each other! ..."

As Miss USA 2018, Summers represented the United States at Miss Universe 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand, where she placed in the top twenty. Her national costume was based on a red rose, the national flower of the United States which also happens to be Summers's middle name. The eventual winner was Catriona Gray of the Philippines.^[25][26][27] Summers ended her reign on May 2, 2019, after crowning Cheslie Kryst as Miss USA 2019 in Reno, Nevada.^{[28][29][30][31]}

Controversy[]

Racism allegations[]

Summers received media backlash worldwide after she was captured on video imitating two Asian rivals' accents during the Miss Universe 2018 contest. In a video posted to Instagram, Summers imitated Miss Cambodia Rern Sinat and Miss Vietnam H'Hen Niê's accents, gestures and speech patterns.^[32][33][34] Summers later apologized for the incident, stating, “In a moment where I intended to admire the courage of a few of my sisters, I said something that I now realize can be perceived as not respectful, and I apologize.” ^[35]

Personal life[]

Summers became engaged to longtime boyfriend Conner Combs in Bangkok on December 17, 2018, shortly after competing at Miss Universe 2018.^[36][37][38] They married on October 20, 2019 in Anthem, Arizona.^[39]

References[]

External links[]

• Sarah Rose Summers on Instagram
• Sarah Rose Summers on Twitter

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Madison Novak	Miss Nebraska Teen USA 2012	Succeeded by Jasmine Fuelberth
Preceded by Jasmine Fuelberth	Miss Nebraska USA 2018	Succeeded by Bree Coffey
Preceded by Kára McCullough	Miss USA 2018	Succeeded by Cheslie Kryst