Elena LaQuatra from Pittsburgh was crowned as Miss Pennsylvania USA 2016 by the outgoing queen Elizabeth Cardillo. The finale took place on 6th December 2015 at Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport. The first runner-up title went to Cassandra Angst while Krystal Gregorio bagged the second runner-up title. Antonia Gore and Jodelis Diaz bagged third and fourth runner-up titles respectively. Miss Congeniality subtitle went to Georgia Kantner. At the same event, Sydney Dolanch was crowned as Miss Teen Pennsylvania USA 2016.
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24-year-old beauty queen, Elena hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 4 Elena lost her hearing power to bacterial meningitis nonetheless after numerous surgeries Elena can now hear with a Cochlear Implant. To regain her spoken language skills Elena attended DePaul School for Hearing and Speech for four years. She is a graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School and completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Communications from Point Park University and currently works as a entertainment reporter with WTAE in Pittsburgh.
Elena is not new to the world of pageantry, she was Miss Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen 2007 and represented the state at Miss America Outstanding Teen 2007 where she won the second runner-up title. Elena also bagged Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 2010 crown subsequent to which she represented Pennsylvania at Miss Teen USA 2010 but failed to place in the semi-finals. Last year she was crowned first runner-up at Miss Pennsylvania USA 2015. Elena was also a part of Greece’s Top Model Season 2.
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Elena’s goal is to promote oral education. She is an inspiration to the deaf community, in particular the oral deaf community. She stated: “I got my cochlear implant when I was four as a result of losing my hearing to bacterial meningitis. Today I live a completely normal life. It’s difficult for me to put myself in the shoes of a deaf person without a cochlear implant. Sign language is a whole other world apart from the normal hearing and cochlear implant world. Nobody can tell I’m deaf at all until I tell them, and most of the time, they don’t even believe me! I have to show them my cochlear implant.”
Pennsylvania’s most recent placement came in 2014 when Valerie Gatto advanced the top 20. Michele McDonald (1971) is Pennsylvania’s only Miss USA. At only eighteen, she was one of the youngest competitors ever to win the crown. Pennsylvania has had 11 finalists besides these two ladies. The state also won Best in State Costume at Miss USA 1982 and Best in Swimsuit at Miss USA 1967.
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