Miss USA 2014: A New Winner Is Officially Crowned; Nia Sanchez From Nevada Takes The Title

Tags: Miss USA 2014; Miss USA 2014 winner; miss nevada; Nia Sanchez; Nia Sanchez miss usa

BY Pamela Claudine Perez Jun 09, 2014 04:50 AM EDT

Miss USA 2014 has been crowned! The annual pageant aired live from the Baton Rouge River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Sunday, June 8.

America officially has crowned the 2014 Miss USA! The impressive beauty queen beat out 50 other contestants for the coveted title.

Nia Sanchez, 24, from Nevada was named the Miss USA winner on June 8 at the live pageant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana! Nia is the first beauty queen in the competition's history to ever win from the state of Nevada!

Nia competed in the 3-hour live telecast, going up again 50 other beautiful ladies. The final six contestants hailed from Iowa, North Dakota, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Louisiana, but Nia beat them all out, replacing Erin Brady, the 2013 Miss USA winner.

Erin crowned Nia, officially making her the next Miss USA. What an honor!

The fifth runner up was Iowa, the fourth was Florida, the third runner up was Louisiana and the second was Georgia, leaving Nevada and North Dakota as the finalists. Of course, Nia from Nevada came out on top!

The annual event from Donald Trump's Miss Universe organization aired live on NBC and was hosted by Giuliana Rancic and Thomas Roberts. Fashion expert Jeannie Mai helped with backstage correspondence and Lance Bass, Ian Ziering and Melissa Peterman were among the judges.

There have been a lot of interesting candidates this year. Miss USA 2014 hopeful Miss Pennsylvania revealed she was conceived when her mother was attacked at knifepoint.

Valerie Gatto, 24, revealed to Today.com that a man dressed in black attacked her mother when she was just 19, forcing himself upon her behind a building until a passing car spooked him, and she managed to run away.

Rather than let the tragic story define her, Valerie has decided to use it as a platform to help educate women about sexual assault. "I believe God put me here for a reason," she said. "To give [people] hope that everything is possible and you can't let your circumstances define your life."