Sports Illustrated held their first open casting call ever and were blown away by the 5,000 submissions they received on Instagram. And after watching hours of submissions they narrowed it down to 35 finalists that "embody exactly what SI Swimsuit is about". One of those women was Lake Charles native and former Miss Louisiana, Maaliyah Papillion.

Maaliyah is in NYC for the final casting call, but Sports Illustrated will also be looking to social media when they choose a model for this year's SI Swimsuit Edition.

Accoring to Maaliyah's Facebook page, you can show the bayou beauty some home-state support on her #SISwimSearch quest by following Sports Illustrated on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and leaving comments letting them know you'd like to see Maaliyah Papillion in the next issue.

You can check out more details on #SISwimSearch on the Sport Illustrated website.

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