Leander ISD Superintendent Dan Troxell, Ph.D., announced that 22 LISD students were distinguished as Semifinalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program based on their outstanding performances on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). In addition, 75 LISD seniors were named National Merit Commended Students and 32 were recognized as National Hispanic Scholars by the College Board.

“These students have worked incredibly hard to earn these prestigious honors, and I congratulate each of them for their efforts,” Troxell said. “Leander ISD is fortunate to have a community of families and teachers that supports academic excellence, and these students are a testament to that.”

The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. These academically gifted high school seniors will compete for scholarships worth about $31 million that will be offered next spring.

National Merit Semifinalists:

  • Cedar Park High School – Joshua Kolenbrander, Joshua Ou, Pujita Shukla
  • Vandegrift High School – Paul Clukey, Bo Deng, Varun Gorti, Connor Gray, Grace Hedges, Raymond Hong, Navya Janga, Matias Latorreduque, Daniel Lee, Caroline Li, Brandon Sheneman, Andrew Tang, Michael Tsoi, Lucy Xu
  • Vista Ridge High School – Garrett Copeland, Meghana Karimisetty, Mia Lee, Ankita Rao, Michael Ross

 

Commended Students:

  • Cedar Park High School – Carson Burke, Jack Dooher, Aidan Engstrom, Gabriel Hoppe, Hyunjun Jeon, Samuel Langenfeld, Thien Le, Grant Lee, Rehm Maham, Olivia Maneikis, Kendall Mclain, Anshul Modh, Kendyl Morris, Taryn Sheppard, Joshua Slobodnik

 

  • Leander High School –Dylan Alexander, Caroline Holmes
  • Rouse High School –Timothy Bartholomew, Sriram Bommakanti, Rachel Jung, Alejandro Neff, Rachel Summers

 

  • Vandegrift High School –Neel Agarwal, Hamza Ali, Carlos Alvarez-Roth, Pranav Batra, Gauri Bellur, Lauren Brideau, Justine Do, Parker Fannin, William Fontana, Cheyenne Fryar, Lyndon Grayson, Kunal Gupta, Ryan Holloway, Adelaide Johnson, Abhinav Karnati, Francis Kim, Shreya Kolli, Samantha Kosumsuppamala, Kyle Legg, Hemanth Madduri, Lauren Maunder, Brooke McArthur, Jared McArthur, Lauryn McCosky, Tristan McKeefery, Jennifer Moore, Katherine Osborne, Mikhayla Osborne, Samantha Overhauser, Mahi Patel, Ryan Radloff, Kyle Sabuda, Grant Shaffer, Cole Smith, Madeline Smyser, Annabella Stavrou, Kathryn Stephens, Sarah Tersigni, Priya Thomas, Armando Tomlinson, Zachary Weiss, Elena Wilson, George Robert Young
  • Vista Ridge High School – Yazan Alsukhni, Elaina Balke, Jacob Cohen, Ansley Herrin, Samantha Homiller, Matthew Jagen, Garrett Koerner, Mark Munoz, Reese Niemietz, Catherine Wismar

Approximately 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Participants who scored at or above the Commended Student Selection Index score, but below the state’s Semifinalist Selection Index score are Commended Students.

National Hispanic Recognition Program

  • Cedar Park High School – Finnegan Hein, Kendyl Morris, Katherine Corazao, William Lipscomb, Austin Grendel
  • Leander High School –Kaila Azevedo, Eralp Orkun, Alexander Reeve, Jose Reyes Adan, Leonardo Zamora
  • Rouse High School –Thaliah Cardenas, Alejandro Neff, Andres Vieira,
  • Vandegrift High School –  Matias LaTorre, Camden Perez, Grant Shaffer, Camille Gutierrez, Elena Wilson, Cameron Segura, Marley Price, Orianna Santucci, Stefano Bonilla, Brianna Navas, Maximilian Deitrick
  • Vista Ridge High School – Mark Munoz, Logan Willis Elizondo, Angelle Bergeron, Spenser Young, Camryn Maginel, Julia Abreu, Katherine Grey, Natalie Mercado

The College Board’s National Hispanic Recognition Program honors approximately 5,000 of the highest-scoring Hispanic and Latino 11th-grade students who take the PSAT/NMSQT. Students who received this recognition scored in the top 2.5 percent among Hispanic and Latino test takers.