WORCESTER — Worcester native Cris Urena has been picked to grace the pages of the 50th anniversary edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

The special issue hits newsstands today and will feature Urena as one of 12 rookie models.

Urena, 22, was born in the Dominican Republic, but moved to Worcester with her family when she was a child, reports the magazine.

"I grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, and went to school there from fifth grade all the way to college," she told Sports Illustrated. "Growing up, everyone would be like, ‘You should be a model,’ but I was like, I don’t know. One day my friends said, ‘There’s a casting and we submitted your pictures ... About three months later, I moved to New York."

Urena has worked on a number of advertising campaigns while also working runway shows. She has modeled for Ralph Lauren and Gap campaigns, according to her Models.com page. Urena has worked as a runway model for DKNY, J.Crew, Dennis Basso, Ohne Titel and Phillip Lim.

Urena also runs active Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The swimsuit edition marks the 50th anniversary of the annual of Sports Illustrated publication.