Sonya Balmores (born June 23, 1986) is an American actress, model, and surfer from

Kalaheo, Hawaii Kalāheo (literally, "the proud day" in Hawaiian) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kauai County, island of Kauai, Hawaii, United States. The population was 4,996 at the 2020 census, up from 3,913 at the 2000 c ...

who also competed in the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the Mis ...

pageant.

Early life and education

Balmores was born to a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

father and a mother of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and Native American descent. She attended Kalaheo Elementary School and graduated from Kauai High School. She was a visual communications student at

Hawaii Pacific University Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) is a private university in downtown Honolulu, Makapuʻu and Kāneʻohe, Hawaii. HPU is the largest private university in the central Pacific, most noted for its diverse student body of nearly 5,000 students, re ...

Modeling career

Balmores won the

Miss Hawaii Teen USA The Miss Hawaii Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Hawaii in the Miss Teen USA pageant. Although Hawaii has made the cut fewer times than many states, they have achieved a number of high p ...

title on May 16, 2004 at the Waikiki Sheraton Resort. Balmores represented Hawaii in the

2004 pageant held in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

on August 6, 2004. She placed first runner-up in the pageant, which was won by

Miss Louisiana Teen USA The Miss Louisiana Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Louisiana in the Miss Teen USA pageant. Louisiana is in the top 10 most successful states at Miss Teen USA in terms of number and value of ...

Shelley Hennig. This was Hawaii's highest placement in the pageant since

Kelly Hu Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968 ) is an American actress, voice artist, former fashion model and beauty queen who was Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993. Hu starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera '' Sunset ...

won in 1985. In 2005, Balmores appeared on the covers of ''Women's Health'', ''

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: General * Wilderness * Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, th ...

'' and ''Foam'' magazines.

Acting career

Balmores played the series regular role Kai Kealoha in ''

Beyond the Break ''Beyond the Break'' is an American drama series about four women who join a competitive surfing circuit. It is set in Hawaii. The show was created by Michael D. Jacobs, David Brookwell and Sean McNamara. It aired on Noggin's teen programming bl ...

'' on

The N The N (standing for Noggin) was a nighttime programming block on the Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by Viacom and Sesame Workshop. Before the block's introduction, Noggin's daytime l ...

, a series previously given the tentative title ''Boarding School''. She also played the main antagonist, Malina Birch, in the 2011 film ''

Soul Surfer A soul surfer (term invented during the 1960s) is a surfer who surfs for the sheer pleasure of surfing. Although they may still enter competitions, winning is not the soul surfer's main motive, since they scorn the commercialization of surfing. T ...

''. In 2014, she guest starred on ''

Hawaii Five-0 Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an Ame ...

'' as tour bus robber Alana Duncan the episode " Kanalu Hope Loa" or "The Last Break". In 2017, Balmores was cast in the series ''

Inhumans The Inhumans are a fictional superhuman race of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The comic book series has usually focused more specifically on the adventures of the Inhuman Royal Family, and many peop ...

'' as

Auran N3V Games (formerly Auran Development and later n3vrf41l Publishing) is an Australian video game developer and publisher based in Helensvale, Queensland, Australia. Auran is now operated as a holding company, with operations and development ced ...

Filmography

References

External links

*
Miss Teen USA official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmores, Sonya Living people 1986 births People from Kauai County, Hawaii 2004 beauty pageant contestants 21st-century Miss Teen USA delegates American television actresses American Christians American actresses of Filipino descent American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent American people of Irish descent