National Merit Winners Named For Tampa Bay Area

BRADENTON, FL — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has named more than 3,200 winners of National Merit Scholarships that are financed by colleges and universities across the country. Several students from the Tampa Bay area and surrounding counties made the grade to earn the awards that range between $500 to $2,000 a year for up to four years.

An additional group of scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2017 competition to approximately 4,000.

Get the Patch newsletter and alerts in your inbox.

This year, 182 higher education institutions stepped forward to underwrite Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsors include 103 private and 79 public institutions located in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

More than 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2017 competition by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. In the fall of 2016, about 16,000 semifinalists were named on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.

To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, semifinalists first had to advance to the finalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements. Each semifinalist was asked to submit a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT scores that confirmed the qualifying test performance. From the semifinalist group, some 15,000 met requirements for Finalist standing, and about half of the finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners in 2017.

The nonprofit National Merit Scholarship Corporation operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of National Merit Scholarships provided each year are made possible by the support of approximately 420 independent corporate and college sponsors.

Tampa Bay’s National Merit Scholars

Here’s the list of National Merit Scholars from the Tampa Bay area announced Wednesday and the colleges offering their scholarships:

Bradenton

Megan I. Johnston

• Probable career field: Undecided
• High School: Manatee High School
• College: Emory University

Emma T. Jones

• Probable career field: Medicine
• High School: St. Stephen’s Episcopal
• College: University of Central Florida

Valerie M. Kreisel

• Probable career field: Molecular Biology
• High School: Manatee High School
• College: University of Florida

Alexandra M. van den Ochtend

• Probable career field: Law Enforcement
• High School: Manatee High School
• College: University of Florida

Brandon

Nathan A. Martin

• Probable career field: Engineering
• High School: Bloomingdale High
• College: University of Florida

Clearwater

Jordan Cox

• Probable career field: Neuroscience
• High School: Canterbury School of Florida
• College: Dickinson College

Ethan C. Daniel

• Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
• High School: Largo High
• College: University of South Florida

Christina M. Hayworth

• Probable career field: Medicine
• High School: Palm Harbor University
• College: Florida State University

Dunedin

Daniel N. Brooks

• Probable career field: Undecided
• High School: East Lake High
• College: University of Florida

Grant S. Konger

• Probable career field: Entrepreneurship
• High School: Palm Harbor University High
• College: University of South Florida

Lakeland

Nathaniel Senn

• Probable career field: Chemical Engineering
• High School: Harrison Center
• College: University of South Florida

William A. Smith

• Probable career field: Undecided
• High School: Harrison Center
• College: Florida State University

Land O’ Lakes

Nathaniel W. Edgar

• Probable career field: Computer Science
• High School: Homeschool
• College: University of Florida

Maxwell W. Keenan

• Probable career field: Computer Science
• High School: Land O’ Lakes High
• College: University of Chicago

Lithia

Sheamus Cooper

• Probable career field: Economics
• High School: Strawberry Crest High
• College: University of Florida

Evelyn J. Oldham

• Probable career field: Academia
• High School: Newsome High
• College: University of Florida

Lutz

Elle D. Hazlett

• Probable career field: Medicine
• High School: Homeschool
• College: Calvin College

Bailey M. Zinckgraf

• Probable career field: Industrial Engineering
• High School: Steinbrenner High
• College: University of Florida

New Port Richey

Luis M. Labayen

• Probable career field: Aerospace Engineering
• High School: Mitchell High
• College: University of Florida

Odessa

Riley L. Troyer

• Probable career field: Engineering
• High School: Carrollwood Day School
• College: Purdue University

Palm Harbor

Jay V. Mithani

• Probable career field: Undecided
• High School: Palm Harbor University High
• College: University of Florida

Jakub R. Pepas

• Probable career field: Materials Science
• High School: Palm Harbor University High
• College: University of Florida

Mira Rajani

• Probable career field: Biology
• High School: Berkeley Preparatory
• College: Emory University

Sarasota

Scott Douglas

• Probable career field: Undecided
• High School: Pine View High
• College: Vanderbilt University

Claire J. Dutreil

• Probable career field: Engineering
• High School: Pine View High
• College: University of Florida

Connor D. Flaherty

• Probable career field: Undecided
• High School: Riverview High
• College: Florida State University

Katie C. Green

• Probable career field: Bioengineering
• High School: Pine View High
• College: Northeastern University

Alexander S. Griffin

• Probable career field: Mathematics
• High School: Pine View High
• College: New College of Florida

Kim Nguyen

• Probable career field: Nursing
• High School: Pine View High
• College: University of Florida

Zachary Raad

• Probable career field: Chemistry
• High School: Pine View High
• College: University of Florida

Ethan A. Sykes

• Probable career field: Computer Engineering
• High School: Pine View High
• College: University of Florida

St. Petersburg

Rocco Clayton DiGiorgio V

• Probable career field: Cell Biology
• High School: Shorecrest Preparatory
• College: University of Central Florida

Bryan R. Peebles

• Probable career field: Science/Research
• High School: St. Petersburg High
• College: University of Florida

Varika Pinnam

• Probable career field: Marketing
• High School: Northeast High
• College: University of Texas at Dallas

Ethan J. Smith

• Probable career field: Mechanical Engineering (Robotics)
• High School: Lakewood High
• College: University of Central Florida

Ashley N. Taylor

• Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
• High School: Northeast High
• College: University of Florida

Tampa

Jordyn E. Bizzell

• Probable career field: Biomedicine
• High School: Sickles High
• College: University of South Florida

Jaxon Brown

• Probable career field: Computer Engineering
• High School: Plant High
• College: University of Florida

Simone M. Burgin

• Probable career field: Academia
• High School: Plant High
• College: Florida State University

Marina E. Chan

• Probable career field: Law
• High School: King
• College: University of Florida

Jonathan C. Cowart Luzier

• Probable career field: Aerospace Engineering
• High School: Plant High
• College: University of Florida

Marjorie Fitzsimmons

• Probable career field: Healthcare
• High School: Plant High
• College: Florida State University

Jacob V. Freedman

• Probable career field: Actuarial Science
• High School: Robinson High
• College: University of Southern California

Isabel J. Hanewicz

• Probable career field: Journalism
• High School: Robinson High
• College: University of Southern California

Elizabeth M. Harwell

• Probable career field: Economics
• High School: Berkeley Preparatory
• College: University of Chicago

Daniel L. Morejon

• Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
• High School: Tampa Catholic
• College: University of South Florida

Joshua Y. Nelson

• Probable career field: Computer Programming
• High School: Hillsborough High
• College: University of South Carolina

Henry M. Noell

• Probable career field: Engineering
• High School: Sickles High
• College: University of Florida

April E. Olson

• Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering
• High School: Wharton High
• College: University of Florida

Alexander Pillai

• Probable career field: Medicine
• High School: Hillsborough High
• College: University of Florida

Kaley Anna Raabe

• Probable career field: Music
• High School: Gaither High
• College: University of South Florida

Clarice K. Su

• Probable career field: Medicine
• High School: King High
• College: University of Florida

Samuel L. Unger

• Probable career field: Finance
• High School: Sickles High
• College: University of South Florida

Theodoros Vasiloudes

• Probable career field: Film Production
• High School: Berkeley Preparatory
• College: University of Southern California

Madison W. Veeneman

• Probable career field: Chemistry
• High School: Homeschool
• College: University of South Florida

Valrico

Joshua D. Delgado

• Probable career field: Computer Science
• High School: Strawberry Crest High
• College: University of Central Florida

Ryan J. Kehrmeyer

• Probable career field: Computer Engineering
• High School: Strawberry Crest
• College: University of Central Florida

Zachary Neidig

• Probable career field: Computer Science
• High School: Bloomingdale High
• College: University of Central Florida

Spencer T. Tamagni

• Probable career field: Physics
• High School: Strawberry Crest High
• College: University of Central Florida

Wesley Chapel

Michael Gendreau

• Probable career field: Aerospace Engineering
• High School: Land O’ Lakes High
• College: University of Central Florida

Navya Jampani

• Probable career field: Medicine
• High School: Land O’ Lakes High
• College: University of South Florida

Lauren E. Payne

• Probable career field: Medicine
• High School: Wiregrass High
• College: University of Florida

For more information about the National Merit Scholarship program, visit the organization’s website.

Image via Shutterstock