Miss America 2012: Miss Hawaii Wins Preliminary Round With Jump Rope Routine [Photos]

The 2012 Miss America will be held this Saturday at the Planet Hollywood Resort Casino. But before Miss California, Miss Washington, and the rest of the Miss American contestants hit the main stage they have to compete through a series of preliminary events.

Miss Hawaii (Lauren Cheape) impressed judges in the third round with her jump rope skills. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cheape won a $2,000 scholarship for her “Hawaii Five-O” jump rope routine. Cheape’s talent could also help her win the Miss America contest as 35 percent of a contestant’s score comes from the talent portion.

Miss New York is also hopeful heading into the finals. Miss New York (Kaitlin Monte) earned a $1000 scholarship in the fitness category on Thursday night. The fitness category counts for 15 percent of the total score.

CBS reports that Miss Wisconsin and Miss Oklahoma won the talent portion in the first two preliminary rounds and Miss Utah and Miss Texas won the fitness portions of the first two rounds.

Here’s a video of Lauren Cheape’s jump rope routine from the 2011 Miss Hawaii contest.

Here are some photos from the preliminary rounds of the 2012 Miss America contest.

Miss New York – Lifestyle and Fitness

Miss Utah – Lifestyle and Fitness

Miss Wisconsin – Talent

Miss Texas – Lifestyle and Fitness

Miss America chief Sam Haskell said:

“All of us at Miss America are impressed with this year’s contestants. They are making it very difficult for the judges. This really is the year of the smartest, most talented we’ve had in coming to Las Vegas the past seven years.”

Do you watch the Miss America pageant? Who do you think will win?