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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