Texas Aces
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The Texas Aces is a name colloquially given to five Miss Texas USA titleholders who went on to win the Miss USA beauty pageant in succession from 1985-1989.
Prior to the 1980s, no other state had won more than two Miss USA pageants in succession (the only two states to win twice in succession were Virginia in 1969-1970 and Illinois from 1973-1974). The five Texan Miss USA winners were all coached by "GuyRex", Richard Guy and Rex Holt, who held the Texas franchise from 1975. The term was first used in 1988 after Gibbs became their fourth consecutive titleholder, with Guy referring to the four queens as "four aces in a deck of cards", with their fifth titleholder, Kim Tomes (1977) as the "wildcard".[1] The following year Gretchen Polhemus became the fifth and final "ace". The term is still in use.
As well as directing the Texas pageant, GuyRex also acquired the Miss California USA franchise in 1986. In 1988, Diana Magaña of California placed first runner-up to Gibbs, the fourth ace. The two had both undergone extensive preparation by GuyRex, and even lived together prior to the pageant.[2][3]
The five Aces were:
- 1985 - Laura Martinez-Herring (Miss USA, Semi-finalist at Miss Universe 1985)
- 1986 - Christy Fichtner (Miss USA, 1st runner-up at Miss Universe 1986)
- 1987 - Michelle Royer (Miss USA, 2nd runner-up at Miss Universe 1987)
- 1988 - Courtney Gibbs (Miss USA, Semi-finalist at Miss Universe 1988)
- 1989 - Gretchen Polhemus (Miss USA, 2nd runner-up at Miss Universe 1989)
[edit] References
- ^ Lewis, Holden. "Miss USA Contest Rewards Winners, Gurus", Associated Press, 1988-03-02.
- ^ "New Miss California", The San Francisco Chronicle, 1987-08-31, p. 6.
- ^ "Bringing Up Beauty / In the months before the Miss USA Pageant, advisers work on Miss California", The San Francisco Chronicle, 1987-10-01, p. 6.
