BRAINY COMPETITOR MONTROSE TEEN IN RUNNING FOR CALIFORNIA JUNIOR MISS TITLE.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Erin Frazier, 16, never thought of herself as the beauty pageant type.

But after learning that brains, not looks alone, count in the Junior Miss competition, the down-to-earth, outgoing Montrose resident jumped at the opportunity to participate in one.

Frazier, who will be a senior at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy this fall, was recently selected one of eight young women from Los Angeles County to participate in the statewide Junior Miss competition.

Tonight, she will finish her last round of the competition at Rohnert Park in Northern California, going up against some 46 other contestants for the California Junior Miss title.

During a telephone interview this week, Frazier said she is enjoying herself despite the daily rehearsals from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

``The camaraderie is great among the girls. It's not the back-stabbing type of pageant at all,'' Frazier said.

Among the contestants, Frazier said she has found many people who are just like her: who are active in their communities and excel in school.

``It's a little humbling. They are real people,'' she said. ``They are very nice. Everyone is free as can be. I am very impressed by a lot of these people.''

Spread over four days, the competition has five categories: scholastics, interview, poise, fitness and talent.

Scholastics, which is prejudged before the competition, is based on a contestant's grades in school, SAT score and other academic factors. The interview and scholastics portions combined make up 50 percent of a contestant's total score.

``It's not a beauty pageant. It does place a high emphasis on scholastics,'' Frazier said.

She has a 4.01 grade-point average and is the captain of her school's swimming and cross country teams. She will be the class president next year.

For the talent part of the pageant, Frazier plans to play a piece called ``Reverie'' composed by Adolphonse Hasselmans, on the harp.

Teressa Syta, the coordinator for the Los Angeles County competition, said she was impressed by Frazier's leadership qualities and communication skills.

``Erin is particularly articulate and expresses ideas well,'' she said. ``You can ask her anything, and she would have something to say about it.''

Syta was also struck by Frazier's charisma, saying the young woman is the type of leader who inspires admiration.

The first-place winner of the Junior Miss Competition will get a $10,000 college scholarship and go on to the national competition, where the scholarship prizes total more than $250,000. Although the scholarship money is attractive, Frazier isn't counting on taking any home.

``I've resigned myself to not winning,'' she said. ``I am going to have great fun. This is not the end-all, be-all.''

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Erin Fleming doesn't expect to win, but she's still enjoying being part of the California Junior Miss competition tonight.