Marianne Cruz González (born April 23, 1985 in

Salcedo Salcedo is a Spanish name meaning "of or relating to the Willow, Willow Tree". Sapcedo or Salzedo may refer to: Places *Hermanas Mirabal Province (formerly called Salcedo), Dominican Republic *Salcedo, Dominican Republic, the capital of the Herma ...

) is a Dominican news presenter, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Dominican Republic 2008 The Miss República Dominicana 2008 pageant was held on December 3, 2007. That year only 9 candidates competed for the national crown. The chosen winner will represent the Dominican Republic at the Miss Universe 2008. The first runner up will enter ...

and represented her country at Miss Universe 2008.

Personal life

Born in

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, Marianne is the youngest of three sisters. Her parents were divorced when she was young. At the age of 16, Cruz began

mountain climbing Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

. She has climbed the highest elevation of the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, The Pico Duarte, in

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. Cruz is studying fashion design at Santo Domingo, and is the voice of many charity campaigns in Dominican Republic.

Beauty Pageants

Miss Dominican Republic 2007

Cruz participated in the

Miss Dominican Republic 2007 The Miss Dominican Republic 2007 pageant was held on March 22, 2007. That year only 20 candidates competed for the national crown. The chosen winner will represent the Dominican Republic at the Miss Universe 2007 pageant which was held in Mexico an ...

beauty pageant. Despite her popularity, and her being the favorite candidate during the competition, she lost to

Massiel Taveras Massiel Indira Taveras Henríquez (born 7 July 1984 in Santiago de los Caballeros) is a Dominican presenter, designer, actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Dominican Republic 2007 and represented her country at Miss Unive ...

the candidate from the province of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Miss Continente Americano

Later on Cruz went on to participate in the Miss Continente Americano 2007 beauty pageant. Cruz was declared the winner of Miss Continente Americano 2007 and was crowned by Mia Taveras of the

, becoming the first Miss Continente Americano to be crowned by a compatriot.

Miss Dominican Republic 2008

After competing once again for the title of Miss Dominican Republic, 22-year-old Marianne Cruz became

, receiving the crown from Massiel Taveras, Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2007 and gaining the right to represent the Dominican Republic at Miss Universe 2008.

Miss Universe 2008

After winning, she represented the Dominican Republic at Miss Universe 2008, where she finished as 2nd Runner-Up. This is the third highest position Dominican Republic has gotten in Miss Universe after

Ada de la Cruz Ada Aimée De La Cruz Ramírez (born June 15, 1986, in Villa Mella) is a Dominican model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Dominican Republic 2009 and placed 1st Runner-Up at Miss Universe 2009. Biography her first came to fame as Miss Domi ...

(Cruz' successor) placed 1st Runner-Up at Miss Universe 2009 and

Amelia Vega Amelia Vega Polanco (born 7 November 1984) is a Dominican model, actress, author, singer and beauty queen. At the age of 18, she won the Miss Universe 2003 pageant, becoming the first ever Miss Universe from the Dominican Republic, as well as ...

won Miss Universe 2003. Cruz was also the second woman representing the Dominican Republic to place 2nd-Runner Up (the 1st was

Renata Soñé Renata De Jesús Soñé Savery (born August 6, 1982, in New York City) is an American-born Dominican beauty pageant titleholder, model, and actress. She competed in the Miss Universe 2005 pageant, finishing 2nd Runner-Up after winning Miss Domin ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Career in media

Cruz has appeared in several magazines and has been hosting special events. She has been on some fashion runways and had a special appearance on Premios Cassandra and in the Dominican movie ''Playball''. She has done several photoshoots for Dominican International fashion photographers. Cruz is news anchor at ''Noticias SIN'' from 2010 to 2014, and then since 2014 at ''AN 7''. She is also radio host on “El sol de los sábados”.

References

1985 births Living people People from Hermanas Mirabal Province Miss Universe 2008 contestants Miss Dominican Republic Dominican Republic beauty pageant winners Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent Television news anchors White Dominicans {{Pageant-bio-stub