Nia Sanchez First Runner-Up in Miss Universe Pageant

When Miss Columbia's Paulina Vega took the crown of Miss Universe last night, she was accompanied by former Menifee resident, Nia Sanchez who won first runner-up.

The former Miss Menifee Valley in 2008, took the crown of Miss USA last June, qualifying her to compete in the prestigious competition that took place in Miami this year. While growing up in Menifee, Sanchez attended Paloma Valley High School and was the homecoming queen in 2007.

Despite moving away to Las Vegas and eventually winning Miss Nevada, the current New York resident still has ties to the local community. Her father owns the Menifee Valley Martial Arts Academy and her stepsister Alena Arriaga won Miss Menifee Valley last year.

During her time in Menifee, she was very active at Revival Church. Her mission trips would often take her around the world. As a youngster, trips to places like Africa and Mexico gave her a better perspective of life. After graduating high school, she continued her world travels, having lived in Europe and Hong Kong shortly. In total she has visited 15 countries according to her profile on the Miss Universe website.

Sanchez has been a full-time model for the past seven years and out of thousands of applicants, was chosen to be a face character for Hong Kong Disney after already serving as a face character for Disneyland in Anaheim.

Because of her previous pageant wins, the doors for furthering her education have opened wide for her. After taking the title of Miss Nevada, she won $46,000 in scholarship funds and after winning Miss USA, she won a scholarship to the New York Film Academy.

No matter how much success the 4th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do may have from now, in a previous interview with Menifee 24/7, Sanchez said, "Menifee is such an important part of my history, and it makes me who I am. I’ll always be the girl next door, the girl from Menifee, always.”