Meet the new Miss America 2013! Miss New York Mallory Hagan, 23, took home the crown Saturday, Jan. 12 after beating 52 other contestants.
The Brooklyn native was in complete shock when she crowned the winner ahead of first runner-up Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers and third place winner Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton.
During the competition, Hagan performed a tap dance routine to James Brown‘s “Get Up Off of That Thing,” and styled a black string bikini for swimwear. Hagan answered a question from judge Sam Champion, Good Morning America‘s weatherman, during the interview portion.
“In the wake of the Newtown tragedy there has been a lot of talk about gun control, one solution being proposed is an armed guard in every school,” Champion said. “Do you think that would make our schools safer?”
“I don’t think the proper way to fight violence is with violence,” Hagan responded. “I think the proper way is to educate people on guns and the ways we can use them properly. We can lock them up, we can have gun safety classes, we can have a longer waiting period.”
Hagan is currently studying Advertising, Marketing and Communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology, with the goal of entering the field of Cosmetic & Fragrance Marketing, according to her official Miss New York 2012 biography.
She has been involved with the Miss America Organization for 10 years, and was first runner-up in Miss New York 2010 and 2011. Vanessa Williams was the last Miss New York to win the Miss America crown in 1984.
