Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff from Missouri crowned Miss Teen USA 2017
Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff won the title of Miss Teen USA 2017 few hours ago, defeating teens from 50 other states, including the District of Colombia. Sophia represented the state of Missouri in the contest. She succeeds Karlie Hay as the reigning Miss Teen USA. This year’s pageant was held at Phoenix City Hall in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 51 contestants competed in preliminary competition hosted by Kára McCullough, Miss USA 2017 and Karlie Hay, Miss Teen USA 2017. Based on performances in active wear, evening wear and interview rounds in preliminary competition, 15 semi-finalists were chosen. 15 girls competed in active wear and thus the field was narrowed down to 10. 10 girls competed in evening wear and the Top 5 was selected from them. The five finalists were teens from Oregon, Indiana, Missouri, California and Nevada.
The girls further competed in the Q & A round and the judges voted based on answers and overall impression. In the Q & A round, Sofia spoke about winning the top prize for Girl Scouts by taking on a difficult project. She lobbied lawmakers in her home state to pass legislation to help adults with developmental disabilities. Her passion for social justice inspires her to pursue a degree in Political Science/English and Law School in the future.
Sophia is half Mexican who was born in a military family. She is excellent in her academics and has achieved a lot of laurels in her high school. She has been modeling since a very young age and has worked for major agencies in LA. She loves to dance Ballet and wants to travel the world someday. With the help of her peers, Sophia has created Community and Scholars Cooperatively (CASC), an organization focused on making community service opportunities for teenagers. In her spare time, she also involves with Girl Scouts to contribute with best of her abilities. Sophia was actively a part of the Girl’s Leadership Program with the Women’s Foundation of Kansas City.
Full Results
Miss Teen USA 2017 – Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff (Missouri)
1st Runner Up – Vanessa Matheson (Oregon)
2nd Runner Up – Alexis Smith (Nevada)
3rd Runner Up – Paige Robinson (Indiana)
4th Runner Up – Jaanu Patel (California)
Top 15
Miss Maryland: Taylor Spruill
Miss Nevada: Alexis Smith
Miss Indiana: Paige Robinson
Miss Wyoming: Autumn Schieferstein
Miss Oklahoma: Baylee Ogle
Miss New York: Isabella Griffith
Miss California: Jaanu Patel
Miss Texas: Kirby Lindley
Miss Oregon: Vanessa Matheson
Miss Iowa: Carley Arnold
Miss Vermont: Kelsey Golonka
Miss Arizona: Karlina Riggs
Miss West Virginia: Olivia Hutchison
Miss Utah: Rachel Bell
Miss Missouri: Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff
Special Awards
Miss Congeniality – Alexa Papigiotis (Rhode Island)
Miss Photogenic – Briahna Reinstein (New Jersey)
Miss Teen USA 2017 was hosted by Heidi Powell and Erin Lim with special performance by Jorge Blanco. Some of the judges included K. Lee Graham, Miss Teen USA 2014; Kalani Hilliker and Syleste Rodriguez. Sophia is the 35th winner of the pageant. The reigning Miss USA Kára McCullough, and Miss Universe, Iris Mittenaere were also present in the event. Sophia Dominguez-Heithoff will now share an apartment with these two gorgeous beauties, as she spends the year in promoting the causes of Miss Universe Organization.