Mary Therese Friel
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Born |
Mary Therese Friel 1960 |
|---|---|
| Hair color | Blonde |
| Title(s) |
Miss New York USA 1979 Miss USA 1979 |
| Major competition(s) |
Miss New York USA 1979 (Winner) Miss USA 1979 (Winner) Miss Universe 1979 (Top 12) |
| Spouse | Kent Friel |
Mary Therese Friel (born 1960) is a beauty queen and business woman from New York who has held the title Miss USA 1979.
Friel, who grew up in Pittsford, New York won the titles Miss New York USA and Miss USA. She was later a model, and opened her own modelling agency in 1987. She currently trains and represents a large number of models, as well as training beauty pageant participants.
Friel, a student at St. John Fisher, first won the Miss New York USA title in 1978 and went on to represent her state in the Miss USA pageant televised live from Biloxi, Mississippi in April 1979. This was the first of four years that the pageant was held in Biloxi.
Friel placed second overall in the preliminary competition, behind Miss Illinois USA Debra Ann Niego (who would go on to place third runner-up). She won the swimsuit and interview competitions, and placed second in the evening gown competition to Tracey Goddard of Washington, who would be her first runner-up.
Her victory was New York's second, and came after a string of three consecutive first runner-up placements in the early 1970s.
Friel later represented the United States in the Miss Universe pageant held in Perth, Western Australia in July the same year. She was a semi-finalist in the pageant, which was won by Maritza Sayalero of Venezuela. This was the first time that the pageant had been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
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