LEXINGTON, S.C. — The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has revealed the names of the semifinalists in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Ten high schoolers from Lexington County School District One are among the outstanding students selected.

Approximately 16,000 semifinalists will now compete for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth $33 million. They represent the top one percent of U.S. high school seniors, notably those who scored the highest in their state on the 2015 Preliminary SAT.

Lexington One semifinalists are as follows:

·        Lexington High — Sergei Alexeev, James Clayton, Jessica Fields, Ratna Patel

·        River Bluff High — Mehmet Cakir, Mihir Dutta, Karis Ryu, Sydney Womack

·        White Knoll High — John Clemens, Mark Shepherd

About 90 percent of the semifinalists will be named finalists in February, and about half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning them a Merit Scholar title.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2017. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit Scholarships worth $2,500.

About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 230 corporations and businesses. Additionally, about 190 colleges and universities will finance 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists attending the sponsor institution.