A New York lawyer wins the 20th annual Miss Latina US pageant in Mexico, making it the first time in the pageant’s history that a J.D. Associate walks away with the crown.

New Rochelle resident Melissa Quesada was born in the Bronx 26 years ago of Puerto Rican parents. The Latina beauty is a graduate of Hofstra School of Law and is currently employed at a New York law firm, proving intelligence can be combined with beauty.

The New York delegate beat out 17 other delegates from 13 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Utah. Four delegates represented Colombian, Guatemalan, Mexican and Panamanian women who live in the US and not the states where they reside.

Karina De la Rosa, a Dominican psychology student from Rhode Island was First Runner-Up, followed by pre-Med student Keren Kinglow, Miss Panama U.S. Latina. Completing the top 7 were Jessica Garcia of Utah, Argentina Ruiz of Arizona, Laritza Garcia of Maryland, and Angeles Gonzalez, Miss Mexico US Latina.

Quesada will represent the US at the 2006 Miss Latin America Pageant, competing with delegates from North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Europe.

The evening also included the coronation of another Puerto Rican beauty–“Miss Teen U.S. Latina 2005”, which went to the delegate from Illinois for the second consecutive year. Geysha González (16) of Downers Grove received her crown from her predecessor Michelle Gonzalez of Chicago. Annelyn Nelson of Utah was First Runner-Up.

For the sixth consecutive year the world hotel chain Barceló Hotels & Resorts shared co-production credits at their Barceló Maya Beach Resort, site of the 2003 National and International Pageants in Riviera Maya-Cancun, Mexico. Featured performers were Reggaeton group La Familia, the Barcelo Maya Show Stars and as show emcee Jackeline Cacho, a news anchor on Spanish-language television in the US. The show was taped for future broadcast and webcast by TeleLatina.tv.

The national Miss Latina pageant system encourages education and pride in cultural heritage, selecting winners who can be role models for other Latinas in the country and goodwill ambassadors for the US abroad. Miss Latina U.S. 2005 will join the international and European titleholders in a trip to Europe next year as one of her travel prizes.

The Miss Latina US™, Miss Teen US Latina™ and Miss Latin America® Pageants are produced annually by Organizacion Miss America Latina, Inc. headquartered in Miami, Florida.

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