Tosan Heidi Lorenzen is Miss Wisconsin, ready for nationals

A Wauwatosa teen has been crowned this year's National American Miss Wisconsin.

Heidi Lorenzen, daughter of Elmer and Kay Lorenzen, will compete for more than $500,000 in cash and prizes at the national pageant in California the week of Thanksgiving.

Lorenzen volunteers for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission, and has collected books and new stuffed animals for Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, the Wauwatosa Police Department and the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. She has participated in and volunteered at many walk/runs for charitable organizations.

She is majoring in kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and hopes to become a physical therapist.

The National American Miss program is open to girls 4 to 18, with five age divisions. Participants compete on inner beauty, as well as poise, presentation and all-American spirit. Emphasis is placed on gaining self-confidence, learning new skills, building good attitudes about competition and setting and achieving personal goals.