ASSOCIATED PRESS Shelley Catherine Hennig, Miss Louisiana Teen USA, at left, and Sonya Balmores, Miss Hawaii Teen USA, at right, were the two finalists yesterday at the Miss Teen USA pageant.

Isle teen second in
national pageant

Sonya Balmores, of Kauai, won first runner-up in Miss Teen USA 2004 in Palm Springs, Calif., last night.

Balmores, 18, just graduated from Kauai High School and plans to attend Hawaii Pacific University in the fall.

Shelley Catherine Hennig, of Destrehan, La., won the Miss Teen USA crown, beating out 50 other contestants. The 17-year-old poet succeeds Tami Nichole Farrell, of Phoenix, Ore.

Balmores, whose favorite sport is surfing, has modeled in commercials for Nike, Target, Macy's and Billabong.

She was crowned Miss Hawaii Teen USA 2004 on May 16 at the Waikiki Sheraton Resort.

Hennig won a year of rent-free living in New York City, a tiara valued at $17,500 and numerous other prizes. She will spend the next year traveling and speaking to teens, pageant organizers said.

The honor roll student from Destrehan High School had a poem published in the "Young Authors Book of Poetry" and hopes to attend New York University.

"I want to live in New York, but I've never been," she said.

During the question-and-answer portion of the contest, Hennig revealed that her favorite sport is baseball, because of the players. "They're cute in their uniforms," she said.

Entrants competed in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview.