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2019 Miss Washington Teen USA Contestants

Bailey Reed

Bailey Reed

Lake Washington

Bailey is a senior in high school where she is on Varsity track and involved in DECA, (1st in State, Top 20 at Internationals). She will study Business in college and plans to become the first female entrepreneur in her family. She volunteers extensively at Little Bit and is the founder of The Rock Project, which encourages kids to make morally and ethically sound decisions. Heartfelt thanks to Natalie Wallace, Zhush Portrait for her sponsorship.

Cassandra Mares

Cassandra Mares

Bellevue

Cassandra graduated from Issaquah high school where she lettered in Varsity wrestling her senior year, played 4 years of varsity basketball and participated in ballet until a leg injury made it too dangerous to continue dancing. Cassie is almost complete with her prerequisites into the nursing program at Bellevue College. Cassie wishes to bring awareness to human trafficking by partnering with women, including Rene Banglesdorf, Kelsey Gold and Janae Stracke.

Chloe Stricker

Chloe Stricker

Eastside

Chloe Grace, 15 and a junior at Sammamish High School, enjoys reading, writing, and social activism. She has a heart for people and for the environment. Chloe Grace aspires to be an international human rights attorney with a focus on refugees and those affected by the slave trade. Her blog, liveitcoco.com encourages everyone worldwide to #liveitkind #liveittrue #liveitresponsible.

Destiny Tran

Destiny Tran

Renton

Overcoming the struggles of being a Vietnamese immigrant, Destiny loves to keep herself busy by taking the most rigorous courses offered while being a captain on a state winning drill team, and secretary of her National Honor Society chapter. From her experience with bullying, Destiny has decided to become a Kind Campaign ambassador- a nonprofit organization that speaks against girl on girl bullying, to one day she hopes to share her platform “Be Kind” on a national level.

Halle Blankenship

Halle Blankenship

Sammamish

Halle is 17 and a junior at Eastside Catholic High School. She is on the school cheer team, as well as being a dancer underneath 3rd Shift Dance Youth Ensemble. After firsthand experience with bullying, Halle would like to emphasize kindness between teenagers. In the future, Halle sees herself attending college and majoring in communications.

Hannah Merritt

Hannah Merritt

Prosser

Hannah Merritt was born August 19, 2003.  She lives in Prosser, Washington and has two brothers and one sister.  Hannah is currently a sophomore, excelling in school and particularly loving science.  She plans to become a pediatric surgeon and will attend the University of Washington.  She is a cheerleader, does competitive dance, tennis, and track.  Hannah’s smile lights up the room.  She strives for excellence and works hard to make a difference wherever she goes.

Julia Tomer

Julia Tomer

Franklin County

Julia, 14, is inspired, driven, and motivated by music. She has composed and recorded 2 pop songs. She’s currently working under the guidance and direction of “music executive Jeff Lang” who has 40+ Gold and Platinum albums to his credit. In July, she competed as a fashion model in New York City and was honored for her commercial print. Julia has a positive self-image and strives to be an example to her peers every day.

Kajol Sharma

Kajol Sharma

Seattle

Kajol is a high school senior and a running start student at Bellevue College where she is completing both her AA and HS diploma. She strives to become a Business Woman in the beauty industry. Kajol has also spent over 500+ hours as a volunteer for an organization that provides help to the homeless. Her other calling is to serve our country and plans to give 4 years of service in the Air Force.

Katelyn Cowin

Katelyn Cowin

Pasco

Katie is a freshman at Chiawana and loves reading and writing. She also likes horseback riding, walking dogs at the shelter, and just about anything that involves animals. If Katie wins the title of Miss Washington Teen, she wants to help kids with their reading skills because she notices that most kids in her school struggle with reading. “I love reading,” Katie says. “It just breaks my heart that some kids hate it and I want to help with that.”

Lauren Sturgill

Lauren Sturgill

South Seattle

A gymnastics and track three-year varsity athlete at Sammamish High School, Lauren is a member of the National Honor Society maintaining a 4.1 GPA. A Certified Nursing Assistant and two-time USATF Jr. Olympic pole vaulter, Lauren hopes to study pre-medicine at an Ivy League institution on a pole vaulting scholarship, then go to medical school to become a Pediatric Oncology Physician. With over 1,500 volunteer hours, Lauren still serves with numerous organizations.

Lily Lloyd

Lily Lloyd

Pierce County

Lily is the CEO of Smize Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that connects high school students with local food banks to provide donations, volunteer opportunities and awareness of community outreach. Lily has dedicated 400+ volunteer hours serving her community. http://www.smizefoundation.com Her ambition is to become a neonatologist. In addition, Lily is ASB Executive President, Vice President of NHS, an official Science Scholar, Tri-m music honor society member, Hugh O’Brian Youth Leader alumni, and 4-year varsity cheerleader.

Lilly McMullen

Lilly McMullen

Grant County

Lilly is a junior at Ephrata High School where she enjoys acting in drama, running/ jumping on the varsity track team, and playing the trumpet in four different bands including marching, pep, symphonic, and jazz. Someday, she wants to become a commercial pilot and travel the world while doing something she loves. Lilly wants to publicize the idea of spreading kindness to better the world and loves teaching today’s youth about the importance of recycling.

Lily O’Brien

Lily O’Brien

Lake Stevens

Lily, a junior at Lake Stevens High School, is a member of her school’s National Honors Society and Knowledge Bowl. She is a two-time recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award with over 1,500 community service hours. Inspired to do more, she founded the non-profit, “Hunger Won’t Wait,” to tackle food insecurity across the state. Lily’s future plans include graduating from New York University with a double major in Political Science and Communications.

MacKenzie Haarlow

MacKenzie Haarlow

King County

A senior at International Connections Academy, MacKenzie finished her junior year with a 4.37 GPA, is a Science National Honor Society and Einstein Entourage member, walked in New York Fashion Week 2017 and has been featured in several model magazines. She petitioned Governor Inslee to proclaim October 1st Washington’s #WeighItBeforeYouSayIt-Let’s End Bullying Day and was proud to attend when King and Snohomish Counties proclaimed the day official and raised #WeighItBeforeYouSayIt flags at their courthouses.

Marina Morningstar

Marina Morningstar

Clark County

Marina, 17, competes at the varsity level for volleyball, basketball, and tennis at Union High. She leads as team captain and heavily involves herself in school’s leadership programs. She has taken part in DECA, FBLA, and theater. There was recently a large donation to Union by their alumni in Marina’s name, as a thanks for her collaboration. She will study psychology as a step towards her goal to find a therapeutic cure for depression.

Nicole Knudtson

Nicole Knudtson

Vancouver

Nicole Knudtson is a 17 year old senior who attends Union High School. She loves sports including tennis and volleyball and also enjoys to sing. For tennis, Nicole achieved being number 1 in the Pacific Northwest, and top ranked nationally. She has a soft spot for helping people in tough situations, which is why she plans to become a nurse. She loves to make everyone smile and hopes to make a difference in someone’s day.

Raylyn Peterson

Raylyn Peterson

West Grays Harbor County

Raylyn is an amazing person she is confident and exhilarating and kind hearted she loves the outdoors is academically gifted and is also a ASB student and also loves to help in the community she also has honors in her classes and is a great person to talk to she loves to make new friends and socialize she has done sports such as cheerleading dance and volleyball plus she has even done basketball as well

Shamya Clark

Shamya Clark

Puyallup

Shamya Clark, 16, is a junior at Tacoma School of the arts. At an early age, she has always had a determined & motivated personality, filling out college applications at the age of 9, performing for the Tacoma Broadway Center & competitive Allstar Cheer competing at ESPN in Orlando, Florida. Shamya received her C.N.A. license this summer as she aspires to become a pediatric nurse practitioner. She volunteers her time at a hospital caring for others.

Venus Howard

Venus Howard

Battle Ground

Venus attends Mountain View High School as a Senior and is Currently a local fire cadet in training, she is passionate about serving her community by promoting emergency preparedness, knowing that anyone can be a hero. With her future as a firefighter in mind, Venus strives for academic success and constantly utilizes her strategies and resources to achieve her goals.