Lehi People
Miss Lehi’s Teen shines at Miss Utah Teen competition
Miss Lehi’s Teen 2024, Desiree McKinnon represented Lehi City with grace and enthusiasm at the Miss Utah’s Teen state competition held on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo. McKinnon was chosen as the third runner-up in the Miss Utah’s Teen royalty, won the talent preliminary competition, and received the overall vocalist award.
McKinnon has served the past eight months as Miss Lehi’s Teen and was ecstatic to represent the city that she loves at the state competition.
“I love the city of Lehi. I have met so many people this past year serving as Miss Lehi’s Teen that have touched my heart. Each person is so unique and so fun to talk with. One of my favorite memories is the Lehi City Santa parade. Miss Lehi, Analeigha Meek, and I went to the tree lighting ceremony after the parade and met the most adorable little girls. The girls told us how cool it was that we got to wear crowns and serve Lehi and they shared how they wanted to do the same thing,” said McKinnon.
“Meeting these girls made a huge impact on me and on the responsibility of serving as Miss Lehi’s Teen. Having this opportunity has helped me and serving the city is a way to help others discover their passion for serving and the importance of getting involved. That is why I do this and why I am motivated to continue to serve,” added McKinnon.
For the talent portion of the competition at state, McKinnon evoked a tremendous round of applause and roaring cheers from the audience with her highly skilled ventriloquist act in which she uses two puppets and a combination of three different voice projections to sing and perform “Proud Mary.”
McKinnon displayed poise throughout the competition and said she had a great experience representing Lehi at this year’s state competition.
“This year’s competition was definitely the best one out of all the years I’ve competed at Miss Utah’s Teen. All the girls competing this year were so supportive and energetic. The competition was so fun,” said McKinnon.
Hope Bailey, the first runner-up in the Miss Lehi’s Teen royalty and Miss Southern Utah’s Teen, and Ciana Doxey, the second runner-up in the Miss Lehi’s Teen royalty and Miss Deseret’s Teen, also earned awards at the state competition. Bailey won the overall instrumentalist award with her harp performance and was a runner-up for the scholastic achievement award. Doxey was the winner of the rookie evening gown and the rookie talent awards. The city of Lehi was well represented as all three contestants from Lehi were named as top 12 finalists and competed for the title of Miss Utah’s Teen during the finals competition, with McKinnon placing third.
“This weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to compete at the Miss Utah’s Teen competition and it was an experience I will never forget. I was honored to be awarded the runner-up to the Scholastic Achievement Award and recognized as the top instrumentalist. These achievements are a testament to the hard work and dedication that I’ve poured into my preparation. I feel incredibly grateful for the recognition,” said Bailey. “Competing at Miss Utah’s Teen has furthered my passion for leadership, success and service, and I am more motivated than ever to continue to serve. This experience has left me feeling stronger, more confident, and excited for what lies ahead.”
Doxey posted on social media, “This was the best weekend of the year. I had the best time competing with my talent. Performing the opening number for the first time was so exciting and it literally felt so surreal.”
Doxey earned the rookie awards with her energized performance of a Latin ballroom fusion dance and her elegant display of confidence during the evening gown competition.
“I have learned to always go into competitions with an open mind and to always be myself. I will never forget the love and support I have received from my friends and family throughout my experience in the Miss America organization. I have had so many reach out and share positive thoughts with me. I could not have accomplished all that I have without all the love and support I have been given from the city of Lehi and my people, and I’m so grateful,” said McKinnon.
McKinnon has been involved in the Miss Lehi’s Teen royalty for four years as a runner-up and in 2024 as Miss Lehi’s Teen. She has competed at the state competition four different times with great success and has earned over $15,000 in scholarships and awards.
McKinnon’s accomplishments are many and include the following:
● Miss Lehi’s Teen 2021: Second Runner-up
● Miss Utah’s Teen 2022: Top Eight Finalist and Photogenic award
● Miss Lehi’s Teen 2022: First Runner-up and Talent award
● Miss Utah’s Teen 2023: Second Runner-up, Teens in Action Award Finalist
● Miss Lehi’s Teen 2023: First Runner-up, Talent award and Evening Gown award
● Miss Utah’s Teen 2024: Second Runner-up, Preliminary Talent winner, Preliminary Evening Gown winner and Overall Evening Gown award
● Miss Lehi’s Teen 2024: Title, Talent award, Evening Gown award and Sunshine Street Co. Health Initiative scholarship award
● Miss Utah’s Teen 2025: Third Runner-up, Preliminary Talent winner and Overall Vocalist Award
“Miss Lehi’s Teen 2024, Desiree McKinnon, is one of the most phenomenal humans I have had the pleasure to work with. She is such a strong and poised young woman. She is kind to everyone and so considerate of those around her. She is a natural leader and loves her community. Watching her and celebrating her at Miss Utah’s Teen was so much fun,” said Caitlin Thomas, co-director of the Miss Lehi’s Teen organization. “Desiree lights up the stage with her energy and her dimpled smile.”
“Desiree is a friend to all, she cheered for every other contestant at state as they performed on the stage. She loves serving the city of Lehi and leads with her heart. She is always so responsible. Desiree spent many hours preparing for the state competition, and she always strives to do her best. Desiree embodies the values of the Miss America Opportunity as an example of service, sisterhood, style, scholarship and success. The Miss Lehi’s Teen organization is so proud of her and her many accomplishments, and she is genuine in all that she does. We are confident she will continue to make a great impact in the community and beyond as she goes forward,” added Thomas.
