Meghan Coffey Biography

Meghan Coffey is a beauty queen from New Berlin, Wisconsin who competed in the Miss America pageant in 2007.

Coffey was raised in New Berlin, Wisconsin and upon graduation from high school, she attended Marquette University where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering in May 2006. Coffey received her Juris Doctor degree from Marquette in May 2012 and is now a registered patent attorney.

Pageant History

Coffey is an accomplished twirler who was the national talent winner in the 2003 Miss National Teenager pageant held in Nashville, Tennessee. She first competed in the Miss Wisconsin pageant in June 2005 after winning the Miss Milwaukee title earlier that year. In the state pageant she won a preliminary swimsuit award and placed fourth runner-up.

The following year Coffey won the Miss New Berlin local title and competed in the Miss Wisconsin pageant for the second time. She again won a preliminary swimsuit award, and was chosen as the state titleholder for 2006. She is the second consecutive Miss New Berlin to win the Miss Wisconsin pageant. Her first runner-up, Caitlin Morrall, later competed and won the Miss Wisconsin USA pageant in September 2006 and competed at Miss USA.

Coffey represented Wisconsin in the Miss America 2007 pageant held in Las Vegas, Nevada in January 2007.

Charity work

Coffey has been active in a number of charity activities such as volunteering and working for Children's Hospital of Wisconsin on "Project A.D.A.M." (Automatic Defibrillators in Adam's Memory), an initiative begun after 4 young athletes died from sudden cardiac arrest during sporting activities.

Coffey is the founder of "Start a Heart" an organization founded in 2004 to talk to schools, teachers, parents and coaches about the need for Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) to be placed in school buildings and gymnasiums and to train students and staff on how to use them. She became involved in these causes after a younger cousin had been hit in the chest with a baseball, and immediate action saved the cousin's life. The Start a Heart organization has supported the New Berlin Fire Department in their 2006 drive to have AEDs installed in all of the city ambulances, and fund raising efforts have been made through various events such as lectures, demonstrations and fundraising dance clinics.

Dance

Coffey has been involved in dance since she first started classes in 1990. She trained at Anita's Dance Center in Wisconsin for 12 years learning various forms of dance from ballet to tap. She earned a spot in the studios top performing group, which was featured at many events to include: Disney's Big Red Boat, the Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony, Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, Hawaiian Dance Festival, Disneyworld and Disneyland. She teaches at the studio, where she is responsible for choosing and cutting music, choreography and training of dancers ages 4 and above. She was also a member of the Marquette University Dance Team called "Intensity", which performed at men's and women's home basketball games. Coffey danced with Intensity for four years of college, and served as Co-captain of the group during her senior year. She was a member of the squad that performed at the NCAA "Final Four" Men's Basketball tournament in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2004.

In 2007, Coffey danced for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks on the Energee! dance team.

Coffey also twirls fire batons. She was a 19 year member of the Daley Debutantes, the World Champion baton and drum corps. As a 10 year old she was the Junior Captain and leprechaun mascot and in 2003 became a Senior Assistant Twirling Captain, and from 2005-2009 she was the Corps Captain. She has also been a solo competitor in the sport of baton, and has been awarded many regional and state titles. On the national level, Coffey has won national championships in two-baton twirling and show twirling, and was a top ten finisher in Miss Majorette of America for several years. In 1997, Coffey reached the ultimate goal of being in the "Top Six" " a competition that began with more than 100 twirlers, and was narrowed down to a field of 20 and then a field of six. She is an accomplished twirler, and occasionally performs at competitions where she is the guest of honor.