Smendziuk newly crowned as Miss Teenager Universe

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This article was published 04/08/2012 (5057 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Her reign will be short, but a Brandon teen says she intends to make it a happy one.

Brandon born and raised, 19-year-old Channing Smendziuk has been crowned Miss Teenager Universe 2011 after initially finishing second in the beauty pageant.

As runner-up, a couple of weeks ago she automatically received the title when the original winner was dethroned — she’ll hold the honour for another couple of weeks before the winner of this year’s pageant is declared.

As runner-up, Smendziuk knew there was a chance she could still hold the title if the original winner couldn’t fulfil her duties.

“It’s always, I guess, kind of in the back of your mind although it doesn’t happen very often,” Smendziuk said. “Now that it has happened to me, I was excited.”

Smendziuk was initially declared runner-up during the pageant held in Guatemala in October.

“I was kind of disappointed,” Smendziuk acknowledged of her second-place finish, although she added she was grateful at the same time. “To come second out of 40-some girls is still an honour.”

After the pageant, Smendziuk returned home to continue her pursuit of her bachelor of science degree at Brandon University and to her job as cashier/courtesy clerk at Canadian Tire.

But pageant officials recently announced that due to “lack of commitment” the original winner, Isabella Cazon Torres of Portugal, had lost her title.

As “first finalist,” the honour was automatically passed to Smendziuk.

It was a couple of weeks ago, as she travelled on a family vacation, that she received a call on her cellphone informing her of the news.

She was told she would head to Guatemala again to pass the crown onto the winner of this year’s pageant.

“I said, ‘Mom, guess what, I’m heading to Guatemala again,” Smendziuk said. “She just freaked out and, of course, she had her phone out texting all of her friends.”

Smendziuk’s reign will be relatively short — in total, about a month — as organizers have moved up the contest this year to Aug. 13-18.

That’s when she’ll travel to Guatemala to hand the tiara over to the next Miss Teenager Universe.

Meanwhile, however, with her new title has come notoriety. Strangers who shop at the store where she works have recognized her. And, via Facebook, people have left hundreds of posts and messages to congratulate her and share their inspirational stories.

But, despite her ascension to pageant royalty, it seems Smendziuk has managed to remain grounded.

Even though she’s been crowned an international beauty queen, she admits she’s a little self conscious about her looks because she recently got braces.

She has her job at Canadian Tire and remains focused on finishing her degree even as she intends to chase a career in modelling and acting.

» ihitchen@brandonsun.com