An SIUC student, who has obtained top scores in several beauty pageants, ranked high in the Miss Illinois Teen All-American pageant last weekend, surpassing all but one in a field of 90 participants.

Tracy Hypke, a freshman in radio and television from Springfield, captured first runner-up in the Miss Illinois Teen All-American pageant on Sunday.

I think this will help me with my background in radio and television, Hypke said. I can get recognition for pageants, and that will be something to put on my resume.

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My fantasy is to be on CNN prime-time news nationwide.

Hypke, who is seeking a career in broadcasting, said she first entered pageant competition when she was 15 years old. She said she began her career then with the same competition, the Miss Illinois Teen All-American pageant, and finished as the second runner-up.

The 1995 Miss Illinois Teen All-American contest was held over the weekend in Lincolnwood, a suburb of Chicago, and is the preliminary step to the Miss Teen All-American.

Preliminaries started at 8 p.m. on Saturday, and continued Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. Hypke said the judges announced the top 20 contestants first, then the top five, then the winners.

It was extremely nerve racking, she said. I had no idea where I would place. There were so many girls. It was really up in the air.

She said she has participated in the Sunburst beauty pageant, and the 1995 Miss Illinois National Teenager competition in which she captured the title last year.

I knew the woman that ran the county fair pageants, she said. That’s how I got started.

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There are three equally scored categories in the competition, Hypke said, the interview, swimsuit and evening gown areas.

While there has been much controversy over the swimsuit category, Hypke said she feels it should be kept a part of the overall contest.

People should be able to show that they are physically fit, she said. This is the way to show it.

Hypke said she keeps fit through karate, of which she has been a student for 12 years and holds a second degree black belt.

I started when I was six years old, she said. My parents were in it for a year, and then they asked me if I wanted to join.

Her parents have been extremely supportive, she said, and have helped to sponsor her in competition.