Local students named semifinalists for National Merit Scholarship

Numerous schools in the Houston area recently released the names of students who have qualified as semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program.

According to a press release, approximately 16,000 students were chosen as semifinalists in the 58th annual program based on results from the Preliminary SAT and a National Merit Scholarship qualifying test.

Semifinalists will now complete for a spot in the final round and a chance to win one of the 8,300 available scholarships. To advance to the final round, semifinalists must meet certain requirements, such as demonstrating high academic standards.

Approximately 90 percent of students are expected to advance to the final round, with more than half winning scholarships.

Winners will begin being notified in March.

Semifinalists from Awty International School are Samuel B. Steakley and Aden Z. Willoughby.

The semifinalist from Banff School is Garveen S. Sindhu.

Semifinalists from Carnegie Vanguard High School are Kiera M. Brown, Sam M. Dietrich, Daniel Dreyfus, William J. Larsen and Jonathan E. Vincent.

Semifinalists from Clear Lake High School are Madeline A. Bailey, Benjamin C. Chang, Kevin J. Cyr, Coleman R. Fulcher, Harrison R. Goulden, Sarah N. Gouveia, Joseph C. Grazier, Stephanie A. Hoffman, Allen D. Hu, Nancy K. Huang, Iris P. Jing, Jennifer J. Li, Michael J. Liou, Krishna M. Patel, Pratyusha Pilla, Kristin L. Sambell, Frances E. Tsenn, Jeffrey F. Xu, Karen H. Yen and Joan H. Zhang.

Semifinalists from Cypress Creek High School are Abigail L. Buck, Hollis R. Jenkins, Farid Saemi and Kunal C. Shah.

Semifinalists from Cypress Falls High School are Grace Chang and Avira Som.

The semifinalist from Cypress Ridge High School is Hannah L. Powers.

Semifinalists from Michael E. Debakey High School are Shannon E. Ahmed, Mohammad F. Bilal, Anchit R. Khanna, Jeremiah M. Lee, Nathalie C. Meremikwu, Tariq A. Patanam, Tiffany A. Pham, Smruti Rath, Kristen L. Thompson and Serene R. Yu.

Semifinalists from The Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart are Saptati Bhattacharjee, Bridget I. Bissell and Bridget M. Daly.

The semifinalist from Eisenhower High School is Som-Mai Q. Nguyen.

The semifinalist from Emery-Weiner School is Bradley A. Resh.

The semifinalist from Harmony Science Academy is Melik Yuksel

Semifinalists from the High School of Performing and Visual Arts are Josef M. Lamell, Auburn H. Lee, Amy R. Mattox, Palmer L. Mills and Jyron Walls.

Semifinalists from Houston Christian High School are Madison T. DeLuca, Margaret F. Goode and Ariana M. Morgan.

The semifinalist from Incarnate Word Academy is Julia L. Voltz.

Semifinalists from Jersey Village High School are Kimberly A. Allen, Alex Holler, Connor J. Knight, Khanh V. Nguyen, Andrew Shiau, Amie Tran and Sara L. Zatopek.

The semifinalist from Kerr High School is David T. Vien.

Semifinalists from Kinkaid School are Calin Ackerman, Ryan M. Clegg, Garret H. Hahn, John R. Lewis, Andrew W. Manias, Niraj Y. Mehta and Anna R. Wittenmyer.

Semifinalists from Mirabeau B. La Mar High School are Ashley Alcantara and Angela Chang.

Semifinalists from Langham Creek High School are Shayan Bhathena, Joseph E. Boyd, Melody A. Kelm, William K. McGee and Joshua R. Young.

The semifinalist from Lutheran South Academy is Rachel E. Johnson.

Semifinalists from Memorial High School are Emily R. Ackerman, Joy Y. Ahn, Maryam Amjadi, Casie Chen, Timothy M. Davis, Austin C. Espey, Marie C. Evans, Yezhou Feng, Andrew M. Frewer, Sang H. Ji, Dmitriy S. Khripkov, Min Woo Kim, Mary E. Schatzman, Paul W. Snow, Katherine F. Ustick and Tzu-Ming Yeh.

The semifinalist from North Shore High School is Heath W. Hampton.

The semifinalist from School of the Woods is Christopher J. Pfutzner.

The semifinalist from Spring Woods High School is Parker J. Blome.

Semifinalists from St. Agnes Academy are Briana D. Acosta, Ruth E. Bagley, Sarah M. Hammock and Claire Lafferty.

Semifinalists from St. John's School are Charlotte B. Amandes, Alberto H. Amatong, Yamin I. Arefeen, Walter A. Baker, Ryan L. Beckner, Kate J. Beittenmiller, Sonya K. Bennett-Brandt, Pranav R. Bhamidipati, Carson W. Black, Joshua M. Brenner, Carolyn G. Brooks, Courtnay E. Buaas, Avram S. Bukhbinder, Iman Charania, Guan-Yue Chen, Madeleine E. Clayton, Thomas W. Cowell, Alyssa K. Crain, Elaine Dong, Leslie A. Duncan, Eric S. Fiedorek, Rebecca E. Foote, Ann M. Gocke, Brett F. Gutstein, Emma M. Hagemann, John J. Kim, Lauren C. Lockett, Harris G. Lummis, Aparajita Maitra, John S. McKay, Ian M. Mellor-Crummey, Walter P. Moore, Ryan R. Reza, Anna Ring, Helen D. Sharpless, Jason R. Shyu, Caroline R. Spears, Philip A. Taffet, Andrew K. Vogeley, Hannah C. Worscheh and Marsha R. Zhang.

The semifinalist from St. Thomas Episcopal School is Samuel S. Todd.

Semifinalists from St. Thomas High School are Ju Young Ahn, Jacob B. Caudell and James Michael Dempsey Prappas.

Semifinalists from Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School are William M. Barksdale, David F. Clifton, Cyrus M. Duque, Joseph D. Ewbank, Scott A. Freysinger, Patrick J. Granahan, Benjamin M. Granberry, Stefan Grasu, Trey W. Jenner, Timothy M. La, Zachary R. Meves, Steffen A. Seitz, Krishna R. Thiagarajan, Christopher D. Wager and Adam J. Wesely.

Semifinalists from Stratford High School are Matthew J. Lastrapes, Elaine Lui and Harrison L. Vaporciyan.

The semifinalist from The Village High School is Anirudh Pillutla.

The semifinalist from Westchester Academy of International Studies is Zachary D. Rejwan.

The semifinalist from Westside High School is Konstantinos K. Varvarezos.

Homeschool students Sophia Marinova and Samuel E. Zachry were also chosen as semifinalists.

For more informational about the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit nationalmerit.org.