Pennekamp won the Miss South Carolina USA 2004 title in late 2003 and represented South Carolina in the Miss USA 2004 pageant held in Hollywood , California in April 2004 . She placed first runner-up to Shandi Finnessey of Missouri in the nationally televised pageant , the state 's highest placement since Lu Parker won the Miss USA title in 1994 . In August 2006 Pennekamp won the first Miss Earth USA pageant and succeeded Amanda Kimmel as the United States ' representative at the Miss Earth pageant . The pageant took place in Manila , Philippines on November 26 , 2006 . She made the top 16 and also placed in the top 15 preliminary swimsuit competition . Pennekamp , who studied theatre and speech communications at Newberry College , is a member of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority . The college established the Pennekamp Scholarship for the Performing Arts in her honor
Miss USA 2004
Miss USA 2004
Amanda Pennekamp