Shields topped a field of 52 contestants to win the crown and the title of Miss America 2017 on Sunday night in Atlantic City. She succeeds the outgoing Miss America, Betty Cantrell.
Shields performed a jazz dance to a song from the TV show "Smash," for which she won a preliminary competition earlier in the week.
The pageant from Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall included contestants from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico — as well as the first openly gay contestant.
Miss Missouri, Erin O'Flaherty, wasn't among the top 15 picked to advance in the pageant during its nationally televised finale. Djuan Trent competed in the Miss America pageant as Miss Kentucky in 2011, when she finished in the top 10. She came out as a lesbian in 2014.
In addition to Shields, the finalists were Misses Kentucky, Washington, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Idaho, Iowa, Texas, California, Oklahoma, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi.
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