SV Seniors Shine In National Merit Scholarship Competition

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA — Seneca Valley High School seniors Eric Chen and Ophelia Crano recently were named semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

As semifinalists, Chen and Crano will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. From over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the next level of the program where these students will have the opportunity to earn a National Merit Scholarship and, ultimately, the Merit Scholar title.

In addition, Seneca Valley seniors Sydney Brower, Gavin Helmsen, Rohin Jayaraman and Patrick Monahan have also been named a commended student in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. Brower, Helmsen, Jayaraman and Monahan were recognized for their outstanding performance on the qualifying test used for program entry.

“We congratulate our outstanding National Merit semifinalists and commended students for their outstanding work ethic, dedication and academic achievement that have put them in a position to receive this recognition,” Seneca Valley principal Bob Ceh said. “This recognition is only the beginning of bright futures for all of these students, and we look forward to the value they add to our school community and the larger communities that they will enter into.”

Over 1.3 million juniors in more than 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.