Merit Scholarship semifinalists announced
Tri-Cities area high school students were among the semifinalists named in the 53rd annual National Merit Scholarship Program, it was announced this week.
These seniors are among 16,000 nationwide who will vie for one of 8,200 Merit scholarships - worth a total of $33 million - from the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
Semifinalists are chosen by their scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying test.
The semifinalists emerged from a pool of 1.4 million juniors who took the exam last fall at 21,000 high schools across the country.
In Illinois, teens qualified by scoring at least a 218 out of 240 on the preliminary college entrance exam.
To become a finalist, students must have an outstanding academic record, be recommended by their principal and earn high SAT scores.
Scholarship winners will be announced starting in April and concluding in July.
The area semifinalists are:
Batavia: Evan P. Czerwonka
Burlington Central: Erin A. Kelsey
Elgin Academy: Daniel J. Vecchiolla
Geneva: Terence O'Connor
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy: Amy E. Allen, Ryan J. Angelotti, Yuyang Bai, Rachel L. Banke, Meagan A. Biwer, William C. Boldridge, Nikolaus J. Bonarek, Li-Yan D. Chang, Lorraine Cho, Seong-Ah, Jeffery Ding, Jessica P. Dong, Yangbo Du, Julie M Eagle, Tiernan L. Evans, Zexi J. Fang, Ulises Gonzalez, Justin C. Johnson, Colin J. Johnston, Yousif A. Kelaita, Claudia H. Kim, Martin A. Kim, Eileen A. King, Louis M. Knapp, Jonathan P. Koch, Michael D. Leresche, Ranjani Logaraj, Aurash A. Mohaimani, John A. Myrda, David W. Nai, Jeffrey R. Narkis, Jagannath S. Nayak, Luke L. Nelsen, Adam M. Novak, Scott M. Ogilvie, Joseph S. Ou, Michael J. Paik, Kimberly M. Parker, Sandeep Paruchuri, Rachel E. Picher, Kyle L. Schirmann, Sarah J. Shareef, Bo Shi, Gaurav Singh, Evelyn R. Wang, Ryan Y. Wang, Kai Yang, Sherry H. Yu, Sharon Zeng, Brandon Z. Zhang and Emily Zhao.
Marmion: Christopher M. Heuman
Rosary: Victoria R. Sikes
St. Charles East: Kathryn M. Born, Kelly E. Herz and Janae L. Ketterling
St. Charles North: Patrick C. Eschenfeldt and Katharine K. Fragoso
St. Francis: Eric P. McKee and Daniel Sufranski
West Aurora: Amy C. Fairgrieve, Daniel P. Flaherty, Elizabeth L. Peterson and Joseph K. Riddle
Wheaton Academy: Daniel J. Spiotta