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2015 Tournament of Roses Royal Court Is Chosen

The seven members of the 2015 Tournament of Roses Royal Court laugh and react with joy after their names were read. From left are Alicia Olivas Stoker, Veronica Sara Mejia, Mackenzie Joe Byers, Gabrielle Ann Current, Simona K. Shao, Madison Elaine Triplett and Bergen Louise Onufer. (Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times)

Joyous shrieks, wide grins and bouquets of blossoming roses marked the selection Monday morning of seven young women as Royal Court princesses at the Tournament of Roses house in Pasadena.

Selected from a group of 31 finalists who waited nervously on a carpet-lined staircase, the young women will act as ambassadors for the 2015 Tournament of Roses and attend as many as 100 community and media functions in the run-up to the 126th Rose Parade.

Before naming the princesses, a tournament official told the hundreds of friends and family in attendance to “breathe,” then he read the names from envelopes, one at a time.

They are: Mackenzie Joy Byers, 18, of Pasadena City College; Gabrielle Ann Current, 18, of Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy; Veronica Sara Mejia, 19, of Pasadena City College; Bergen Louise Onufer, 17, of Mayfield Senior School; Simona K. Shao, 17, of Westridge School; Emily Alicia Olivas Stoker, 17, of Temple City High School; and Madison Elaine Triplett, 17, of John Marshall Fundamental High School.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.