Miss Rancho Bernardo and Miss Rancho Bernardo Teen 2011 Crowned Sunday

Rancho Bernardo High School students Lauren Menzer and Sarah Shalviri were respectively crowned Miss Rancho Bernardo and Miss Rancho Bernardo Teen 2011 on Sunday.

Menzer, a 17-year-old senior, also won every "miss" award, including highest GPA and best speech. In addition to being a recipient of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, she is a member of her high school orchestra, runs track and field and participates in her school’s Associated Student Body.

Shalviri’s fellow contestants also gave the 16-year-old junior the Spirit of the Pageant award. Shalviri is a bilingual dancer, ASB member and honor roll student who raised $2,000 for a Tijuana orphanage.

Alyson Faucett was Miss Rancho Bernardo runner-up and Mackenzie Bale was named Miss Rancho Bernardo Teen runner-up. Faucett and Bale are also RB High students.

Contestants were judged on several components, including their interviews with the judges, answers to an impromptu question, business and evening wear, poise and personality, and their replies to the question, “What accomplishment in your life has given you the most satisfaction?”

Yifan Huang, a 16-year-old junior at RB High, was awarded highest GPA for the teen pageant. Huang is a trilingual AP scholar and violinist. She plans to earn her MBA.

RB High sophomore Alexis Coons, 16, won best speech for the teen category. Coons is an Irish dancer who also plays the Irish fiddle. She listed the San Diego Wild Animal Park as her favorite spot to visit, and smoothies as her favorite food.

Caitlin Chessler, an 18-year-old RB High student, was named Miss Photogenic by pageant photographers. Chessler is a member of the Tour De Force dance team and is a Bronco ambassador.

With 18 young women competing in both pageants, the audience was the largest it’s ever been, according to pageant co-director Lynn Ross.

Teen pageant contestants included Christina Azar, Ryleigh Mansell, Serena Sheffer, Kayla Anderson and Lauren Long. The Miss pageant also featured Riley Embry, Emily Wargo, Brianna Beason, Brittany Davie, Katie Cannon and Louise Song.

Fourteen contestants were from RB High, four contestants were Del Norte High students, and one contestant was from Mt. Carmel High.

“You have provided us with the best and the brightest young women Rancho Bernardo has to offer,” co-director Kerry Kirby said to the packed room at the Radisson Suite Hotel in Rancho Bernardo. “Whether they win or don’t win today, hopefully they take something with them.”

Both Ross and Kirby expressed a desire to see the contestants succeed in their lives after the pageant. “Education is the hope for the future,” said Kirby, who added they want to see every contestant go on to college.

Ross’s daughter, Miss Rancho Bernardo 2007 Kayla Ross, who served as emcee for the afternoon, said contestants deserved credit for stepping out of their comfort zones. “Going through this program takes heart, courage and preparation,” she said.

Contestants made their first appearances in business suits, appearing pretty, poised and professional. There was no swimsuit or talent category; instead the pageant, sponsored by Soroptimist International of Rancho Bernardo, focused on academic achievement and presence.

The impromptu question segment involved issues confronting teens today.

Shalviri was asked whether teens can be effective role models. She gave an affirmative answer, citing her best friend as an example who taught her to avoid drugs and alcohol while focusing on family, schoolwork and extracurricular activities.

When asked during the pageant how Huang thought social networking sites affected teens, she said they limit the connection to the world around them despite being useful to discuss schoolwork.

Lynn Ross was recognized for her contributions to the pageant by the chief judge for the Miss Rancho Bernardo Pageant, Charley Crew. A working mom who has given much to the pageant since stepping into the director’s shoes in 2008, Ross has been a coach, mentor, chaperone and trusted friend to contestants and queens, Crew said.

“As a Rotarian, she has lived up to the motto, ‘Service Above Self,’” Crew said.

During their goodbye speeches, both 2010 and said Ross was often mistaken for their mother at events.

“She really deeply cares about this program. … You’re truly the heart of this program,” Lian said to Ross.

Milne and Lian were given pendants by longtime sponsor featuring the Miss Rancho Bernardo Pageant logo. “I still wear this necklace to this day,” Kayla Ross said.

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Editor's Note: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Alyson Faucett's name.