73 National Merit Scholars Named At Hillsborough County Schools

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — The National Merit Scholarship Corp. has announced over 3,000 winners of the National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities, 73 of which attend Hillsborough County Public Schools.

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from the finalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship program who plan to attend their institution.

This year, 153 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 81 private and 72 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

Additionally, 12 Hillsborough County students received $2,500 scholarships: Jacob J. Delikat of Bloomingdale High School; Katherine E. Bentley and Presley C. Lomel of Plant High School; Joshua K. Selvan of Hillsborough High School; Bhavya Bansal and Saanvi Prasad of Middleton High School; Kartikeye Cupta of Steinbrenner High School; Shiva Banganathan and Melody J. Zhang of King High School; Erik C. Dyer of Newsome High School; and Sheya P. Cullapalli and Nitish Coel of Strawberry Crest High School.

The most recent National Merit Scholars were selected by a committee based on their academic records, PSAT scores, essays and potential for success in college.

“The number of Hillsborough County Public Schools students who received National Merit Scholarships this year exceeds three times the number of graduates last year,” said Superintendent Addison Davis. “These 61 students achieved their scholarship wins out of thousands of entrants from across the country. Our entire Hillsborough County Schools community applauds your efforts as you begin this new journey.”

The other National Merit Scholars include:

1. Jasmine A. Cheong, Lennard High School: University of Central Florida
2. Britney M. Wagner, Lennard High School: University of Tulsa
3. Katherine G. Blessing, Middleton High School: University of Florida
4. Kinsley G. Trlak, Durant High School: University of South Florida
5. Eileen J. Jelsovsky, Durant High School: University of South Florida
6. Avaneesh S. Venkatesh, Strawberry Crest High School: University of Florida
7. Sophia N. Florea, Newsome High School: University of Florida
8. Tanushree R. Hadavale, Newsome High School: University of Florida
9. Dana G. John, Strawberry Crest High School: University of Florida
10. Chloe E. Jones, Strawberry Crest High School: University of South Florida
11. Sebastian Nathanson, Newsome High School: University of Florida
12. John P. O'Toole, Newsome High School: University of Central Florida
13. Vasanth R. Srinivasan, Newsome High School: University of Central Florida
14. Pranav Tammineedi, Middleton High School: University of South Florida
15. Louis F. Li, Steinbrenner High School: University of Florida
16. Andrew J. Maroun, Steinbrenner High School: University of South Florida
17. Lily A. Taylor, Hillsborough High School: University of Florida
18. Kaitlyn H. Tran, Hillsborough High School: University of Florida
19. Leina E. Owens, Blake High School: University of Florida
20. Jessica E. Afiat, Freedom High School: University of Florida
21. Saeed U. Ansari, Middleton High School: University of Florida
22. Grace S. Barrett, Robinson High School: University of Florida
23. Presley R. Berman, Robinson High School: University of Florida
24. Oliver Stacey Cheese, Middleton High School: Florida State University
25. Adam Yifeng Cheng, King High School: University of Florida
26. Lane G. Chin, Hillsborough High School: University of Florida
27. Taban C. Chin, Hillsborough High School: University of Florida
28. Lucca Benettie de Castro, Sickles High School: University of Florida
29. Scout F. DeMinico, Plant High School: University of Florida
30. Leyna T. Doan, Robinson High School: University of Florida
31. Arshan M. Falasiri, Plant High School: University of Florida
32. Jacob W. Han, Robinson High School: University of Georgia
33. Ananya C. Harshe, King High School: University of Florida
34. Kevin J. Huang, Plant High School: University of Miami
35. Andrew W. Jenkins, Alonso High School: University of Alabama
36. Kevin Jin, King High School: University of Florida
37. Prabhath Kolli, Strawberry Crest High School: University of Florida
38. Pranav V. Kulkarni, Middleton High School: University of Florida
39. Yining Liu, Hillsborough High School: University of Florida
40. Leo N. Meng, Strawberry Crest High School: University of Florida
41. Vivian A. Mesa, Robinson High School: University of Florida
42. Natalie L. Meyer, Plant High School: University of Florida
43. Yun Joo M. Noh, Hillsborough High School: University of Florida
44. Benjamin D. Norbom, Plant High School: University of Florida
45. Clara M. Oh, King High School, University of Florida
46. Ishan K. Patel, Middleton High School: University of South Florida
47. Luis M. Perez, King High School, University of Florida
48. Praveen H. Prabaharan, Robinson High School, University of Florida
49. Britney S. Pun, Freedom High School University of Florida
50. Suraj Raghunathan, Middleton High School: University of Florida
51. Amulya Ravipati, Strawberry Crest High School: University of Florida
52. Isabella M. Rodrigues, Robinson High School: University of Florida
53. Karthik Sara, Middleton High School: University of South Florida
54. Olivia West, Gaither High School: University of Florida
55. Hannah K. Woodside, Plant High School: University of Florida
56. Mahika Balaraju, Strawberry Crest High School: University of Florida
57. Isabella A. Larson, Bloomingdale, High School: University of Florida
58. Shalini Nandam, Strawberry Crest High School: University of Florida
59. Rahil D. Zaveri, Strawberry Crest High School: University of Florida
60. Megha Manoj, King High School: University of Florida
61. Ethan J. Varn, Sumner High School: University of South Florida