AUSTIN, Texas—This fall, more than 200 seniors earned recognition for outstanding academic performance from the National Merit Scholarship Program, the National Hispanic Recognition Program and the National Achievement Scholarship Program. Eleven students earned recognition in more than one program.
Students are selected based on their scores on the preliminary SAT exam, which they take as juniors. Because of their high scores on this assessment, the students are eligible for scholarship awards from institutions of higher education and grantors.
"We congratulate these students for this remarkable achievement,” Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said. “This national recognition earned by these students brings honor to their schools and communities. It reminds us of our duty to continue to challenge and inspire students to perform at elevated levels so they are prepared for higher education and the workforce.”
The 212 recognized seniors include: eight National Achievement Scholarship finalists, 50 National Merit semifinalists, 51 National Hispanic scholars and 103 National Merit Commended students.
National Merit Program winners
Akins
National Hispanic scholars—Simon Mellnick
Anderson
National Achievement Scholars—Caleb Christian Blackerby, Saundra Guillory
Semifinalists—Katie J. Holmes, Natalya Ponomareva, Daniel J. Smarda, Elena S. Teodorovich, Joshua Ethan Tomazin, Riley B. Trautman
National Hispanic scholars—Sophia Valeria Ajuria-Easterday, Natalie Marie Close, Samuel D. Croley, Marisa I. Hudson, Raquel Marie Key, Katherine Griss Kykta, Kassandra S. Martinez, Brian Christopher McCluskey, Evan Palmer Reyer, Rafael Joel Seroussi, Enzo Sebastian Soenen, Jorge G. Sosa, Layla Najib Wehbe
Commended—Paul M. Abkowitz, Abigail M. Adamo, Blake D. Allen, Neetika Bhargava, Jennifer Lynn Cabiya, Ashley L. Ciosek, ‘Claire E. Dollen, Ryan Cahill Gold, Hallie K. Green, Aaron Huy Ho, Raquel Marie Key, Matthew J. McDermott, John Joseph McDonald IV, Tanner Andrew Mierl, Carson Matthew Moore, Sarah Elizabeth Nielsen, Finley G. Patterson, Melissa Arlene Potts, Hannah Dorothy Rosenblatt, Enzo Sebastian Soenen, Katherine Elizabeth Walters, Travis Binford Weaver, Layla Najib Wehbe, Andrew Liam Whitman, Samuel MacKenzie Williams, Alec James Woodmansee
Ann Richards
National Hispanic scholars—Cassandra Garcia, Monica K. Herrera
Commended—Monica K. Herrera
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Semifinalists—Avery Bell, Alison Scovell
National Hispanic scholars—Jose Ramirez, Matthew Salas, Madison Villarreal
Commended—Jesse A. Burnett, Patrick A. Condra, John M. Hawkins, Matthew J. Jones, Zachary Jones, Timothy D. Klitch, Lunden L. Little, Riley B. Longtain, James L. Nayden, Natalie B. Ownby, Peter C. Reipold, Sarah E. Stone, Zachary Waggoner, Connor D. Wilson
Bowie
Semifinalists—Alex Marx, Samantha Miller
National Hispanic scholars—Joseph Lewright, Belana Torres, David Senecal, Lauren Taylor
Commended— Justin Baker, Garrett S. Custer, Madison Hacking, Vanna Hovanky, Claire Lecornu, Olivia L. Martens, Katherine R. Middleton, Victor Hernandez-Rodriguez, Rachel Tarrant, Megan Tran, Megan Sweeney
Crockett
Commended—Megan Sweeney
Garza
Semifinalists—Peregrine Graham
LASA
National Achievement Scholars —Sara Greaves, Jasmine Bertram
Semifinalists—Anne Alexander, Miriam Alexander, Advaith Anand, Elijah Barrish, Sophie Blankenship, Douglas Cheong, Austen Conlon, Cameron Darwin, Chaarushena Deb, Sydney Doidge, Jonathan Dornhofer, Alex Freed, Maria Gilbert, Ishaan Golding, John Gonsoulin, Sara Greaves, Emma Hyams, Benjamin Jones, Gregory Lyons, Mason Markey, Ji-Woon Park, Serjin Park, Averi Perny, James Rodriguez, Yesha Shah, Sofia Shapiro, Alexander Shultz, Ryan Springer, Noah Stevens-Stein, Sam Suite, Madhumitha Venkataraman, Nathan Weiser, Ximone Willis, Jasmine Bertram
National Hispanic scholars—Sara Greaves, Breese Barnes, Jonathan Barron, Jackson Bradford, Andrea Canizares, Christina Diaz, Nathan Garcia, Marissa Hansen, Luis Jewell, Eduardo Longoria, Matthew Martinez, James Rodriguez, Sofia Shapiro, Gabriela Torres, Catherine Walters, Daniel Zimmerman, Baltazar Zuniga
Commended—Jasmine Bertram, Breese Barnes, Jackson Bradford, Christina Diaz, Eduardo Longoria, Baltazar Zuniga, Samuel Brown, Daniel G. Chen, Grant C. Colbert, Brian Z. Cui, Claudia Cutter, Evlin Du Bose, Katherine A. Gleason, Kendall R. Graham, Deborah M. Halllock, Natalie R. Hayhurst, Lisa R. Hsi, Anne C. Irvin, Adam R. Iscoe, Karl Johnson, Zolia A. Kahan, Clarissa J. Leight, Ronan Melomo, Anna P. Naim, Katherine A. Newton, Stephen E. Ngo, Rose H. Olwell, Emma C. Parker, Aniket Patel, Jesse R. Paterson, Willah A. Peers, Ariana G. Polgar, Campebell A. Pontin, Mayrose R. Porter, Christopher Prinz, George N. Rowland, Lucy M. Ryan, Arnav Sastry, Robert T. Schriber, Chanan D. Sessler, Theresa J. Steele, Calvin Stence, Scott A. Stevens, Joshua T. Stricker, Walter F. Taylor, Natalie Tsai, Grace K. Ware, Keivaun S. Waugh, Michael L. Zhou
LBJ
National Achievement Scholars—Tempra-Saje D. Watson-Carlisle
McCallum
National Achievement Scholars—Tafari Robertson
Semifinalists—Kali E. Bramble, Dylan Feldpausch, Lee Hausman-Cohen, Malini Riddle
National Hispanic scholars—Mary Sanchez, Roberto Pellegrini, Juan Rodriguez, Daniel Sorto, Corina Santos, Elizabeth Campos
Commended— John T. Carse, Lauren A. Distler, Cohen C. Lewis-Hill, Jamison McMackin, Lianna K. Mills, Keith Mitchell, Aidan H. Moyers, Braden W. Pellowski, Madelyn A. Szilagyi-Jones, Tillie C. Walden, Camille G. Weizenbaum
Travis
National Hispanic scholars—Rio Esquivel, Viviana Martinez, Selena Montes
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an independent, nonprofit organization. Since 1955, NMSC has recognized 2.9 million students and awarded more than 377,000 scholarships worth about $1.5 billion.
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