Hempfield Township twins Carina and Kylee Loreno have been named the Cutest Twins of January in a national photo contest.

“It was exciting,” Angela Loreno, the girls’ mother, said Friday.

The 5-year-olds each won a $500 U.S. Treasury Bond from TheCuteKid.com, an Internet-based child and baby photo contest.

Photos are judged by entertainment industry professionals, talent scouts and casting agents, according to a news release issued by the Web site.

Mrs. Loreno, who with husband Paul have another daughter and one on the way, said she was searching a pregnancy Web site when she saw an ad for the contest.

She figured it was worth a shot to enter the girls’ photo since they had just won a contest to be featured in ads for Daffin’s Candies, Sharon.

The Lorenos thought the girls’ chances of winning were slim since it’s a national contest with thousands of entries.

“They were excited. They said ‘we won something else,’ ” Mrs. Loreno said of the twins, who attend preschool.

The prize money is designated for college and Carina and Kylee are glad the money will be saved for their schooling.

“They both want to be doctors,” Mrs. Loreno said.

The girls now have a chance to be the Cutest Twins of 2009 at the end of the year. They’ll be up against 11 other winners for a $25,000 scholarship, she said.

“We’re hoping we have a good chance,” she said.

She plans to enter the twins in some contests when they attend their first Twins Days Festival in August in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Mrs. Loreno said she’d consider letting the girls do more ads if they had the chance.

Many talent agents search TheCuteKid.com for children to be in ads for clothing, for example, she said.