Schools

30 IE Seniors Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists: Class Of 2026

The students, representing less than 1% of high school seniors nationwide, have stellar scores on their SAT preliminary exams.

INLAND EMPIRE, CA — A list of semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship program was announced this month, highlighting a select group of Inland Empire high school seniors who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in their preliminary SAT scores.

This handful of Inland Empire seniors, members of the graduating class of 2026, are among the 16,000 high school students nationwide identified for this scholarship honor.

"These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to
continue in the competition for some 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26
million that will be offered next spring," said Eileen Artemakis, information officer for the National Merit Scholarship program.

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To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. However, just being nominated here is an honor that not many attain.

In the Inland Empire, these semifinalists are listed by city and then high school, in alphabetical order:

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CHINO HILLS

RUBEN S. AYALA H. S.

  • Hsieh, Zoe
  • Lee, Evan H.

CORONA

CENTENNIAL H. S.

  • Kang, Lydia

SANTIAGO H. S.

  • Liang, Holly

EASTVALE

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT H. S.

  • Dumpa, Praneet R.
  • Liao, Erin E.
  • Nukala, Saanvi S.
  • Zhang, Ruiqi

HEMET

WESTERN CENTER ACADEMY

  • Carvalho, Tenzing G.

LOMA LINDA

LOMA LINDA ACADEMY

  • Cotton, Alex
  • Masengi, Noah

MURRIETA

MURRIETA VALLEY H. S.

  • Hao, Thomas

NORCO

JOHN F. KENNEDY MIDDLE COLLEGE H. S.

  • Chaya, Hana

RANCHO CUCAMONGA

LOS OSOS H. S.

  • Chang, Madeleine Y.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA H. S.

  • LaBollita, Yvonne A.
  • Wang, Jonathan

REDLANDS

GROVE H. S.

  • Case, Jeremy

REDLANDS H. S.

  • Green, Harris
  • Kidambi, Advaith
  • Salman, Yahya

RIVERSIDE

MARTIN LUTHER KING H. S.

  • Ren, Kaden
  • Zhang, Ian

RIVERSIDE STEM ACADEMY

  • Gibson, Layla

TEMECULA

CHAPARRAL H. S.

  • Samofal, Aleksandr
  • Yang, Tony

GREAT OAK H. S.

  • Cao, Kevin
  • Nallamothu, Divyamsu S.
  • Zhang, Charles C.

TEMECULA VALLEY H. S.

  • DeWitt, Matthew

WINCHESTER

TEMECULA PREPARATORY SCHOOL

  • Yanez, Ines C.

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