A senior from La Salle High School in Pasadena was selected as the 2018 Rose Queen, the 100th young woman to hold that role, in a coronation ceremony Wednesday evening.
Isabella Marie Marez, a resident in Altadena, was chosen from one of the seven princesses who were named to the Royal Court earlier this month. The ceremony took place in Pasadena, at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Marez is a leadership services commissioner at her high school, as well as a Youth Ministry leader, according to the Tournament of Roses website. She is also a member of the Support Our Troops Club, Key Club, Unbreakable Club, as well as the school’s varsity golf and softball teams.
In addition, Marez is a part of the Hispanic National Honors Society and National Arts Society.
Marez, and The Royal Court will ride on a float during the 129th Rose Parade on Jan. 1, 2018.
The seven members of the Royal Court were named Oct. 2 from among 37 finalists, themselves selected some 1,000 people who were interviewed by the Tournament of Roses’ Royal Court selection committee.
The princesses are all high school seniors. They were selected on criteria including “poise, speaking ability, academic achievement, youth leadership, and community and school involvement,” the Tournament of Roses states.
The six princesses are, in alphabetical order:
- Alexandra Marie Artura of Pasadena, a senior at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in La Cañada Flintridge
- Savannah Rose Bradley of Pasadena, a senior at Pasadena High School
- Lauren Elizabeth Buehner of Arcadia, a senior at Arcadia High School
- Georgia Jane Cervenka of La Cañada Flintridge, a senior at La Cañada High School
- Julianne Elise Lauenstein of La Cañada Flintridge, a senior at La Cañada High School
- Sydney Grace Pickering of Arcadia, a senior at Arcadia High School
More details about the Royal Court are available on the Tournament of Roses website.
The Tournament of Roses began naming a Rose Queen in 1905, but no queen was named in several years within the first quarter-century following that.
Applicants for the Royal Court must be an unmarried, childless female resident of the Pasadena Area Community College District, between 17 and 21 years old.
