UW-Madison graduate Tina Marie Sauerhammer placed second runner-up at the Miss America Pageant Saturday in Atlantic City, N.J.
Miss Wisconsin began playing the cello at age three, skipped high school altogether and most recently became the youngest-ever graduate of the UW-Madison School of Medicine.
After wowing judges with a cello performance of Camille Saint-Sean's \The Swan,"" for which she was named the Preliminary Talent Winner, and advocating her platform of organ and tissue donation largely based on the recent death of her father, the Green Bay native was awarded third place behind Florida's Ericka Dunlap and Hawaii's Kanoelani Gibson.
""I was very pleased with her performance. She performed wonderfully,"" said Joe Neumaier, Associate Director of Miss Madison Area Scholarship Pageant.
Sauerhammer entered UW-Green Bay at the young age of 14, where she graduated at the top of her class. Last year, Sauerhammer earned her Medical Doctorate from UW-Madison at the age of 22.
Had she won, the UW-Madison graduate would have been the first physician to wear the crown of Miss America.
Sauerhammer, this year's Miss Wisconsin, will collect close to $40,000 in scholarships and monies to help pay off her student debt.
""She is $122,000 in debt from medical school, so it's very helpful. Anything she makes this year is going to help pay off her tuition that she owes,"" Neumaier said.
As for the future of Miss Wisconsin, she has a full schedule of appearances and work with her platform, GOLD: Gift of Life Donation.
""She's pretty much all booked up through next year working as Miss Wisconsin in organ and tissue donation. She will do even better now,"" Neumaier said.
Following her reign as Miss Wisconsin, Sauerhammer hopes to obtain a residency in general surgery followed by a fellowship in pediatric surgery.
She currently serves as the national advisor for Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson's Organ Donation Curriculum, spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin Organ Procurement Organization and a cellist in five major orchestras.
Sauerhammer has already begun writing her first book, aptly titled ""Fast Forward.""
