Shauna Gambill

Career

In August 1994 she competed in the Mission Teen United States of America in the national pageant televised live from Biloxi, Mississippi. Her performance in the preliminary competition placed her fourth among the top twelve semi-finalists, but her scores were consistently high throughout the three final rounds of competition, ranking highest in swimsuit (16 August). Having impressed the finals judges, Gambill was crowned Mission Teen United States of America at the end of the pageant broadcast.

She was seventeen years old at the time.

The competition between the two is widely regarded by pageant fans to be one of the closest decisions in recent Mission United States of America history. Gambill was placed third among the ten semi-finals in the preliminary competition, with Jebbia in the middle in fifth place.

Gambill attended Highland High School in Palmdale, California and was valedictorian of her class.

Achievements

• Gambill first won the Mission California Teen United States of America title in late 1993. In 1997, two years after passing on the Mission Teen United States of America crown, she won the Mission California United States of America 1998 title. Gambill then competed at Mission United States of America 1998, where she placed first runner-up to Shawnae Jebbia of Massachusetts. In the final competition, however, Jebbia won both the Swimsuit and Evening Gown competitions and ranked somewhat low in interview, while Gambill was consistently high across all rounds of competition. Had Gambill beat Jebbia to become Mission United States of America 1998, she would have been the second woman to compete at all 3 pageants (Mission Teen United States of America, Mission United States of America, and Mission Universe) and the first Mission Teen United States of America to compete at Mission Universe. Gambill was selected to represent the United States as Mission World United States of America 1998 (now known as United States Mission World) and represented the United States at the Mission World 1998 pageant, where she was a semi-finalist. She is also the first Mission Teen United States of America to compete at Mission World. She married Mitch Gerth in Santa Barbara, California on 23 October 2000, In 2004, she was a judge at the Mission Teen United States of America pageant won by Shelley Hennig of Louisiana.