High school seniors from across Arkansas have been named semifinalists for the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Sept. 9 the names of more than 16,000 high school seniors selected as semifinalists for the program’s scholarships. Around 6,700 students nationwide will receive scholarships from a pool totaling around $24 million.
According to a news release by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, about 95% of semifinalists are expected to be named finalists. Approximately half of the finalists named in February will go on to win a National Merit Scholarship.
Semifinalists must submit an application with information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership, employments, honors and awards received.
The largest share of this year’s Arkansas list came from Bentonville, where 38 students made the cut. This year’s class of semifinalists is the largest in Bentonville history, according to a Facebook post from the School District.
Numerous students from the district’s list expressed interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. One student, Audrey Cope, graduated high school early to attend University of Missouri Kansas City’s dual degree program, which will allow her to earn a bachelor’s degree and a medical degree in just six years.
Another student, Marisa Sutton, has conducted research on migraine predicting earrings, which she presented Sept. 1 at the Northwest Arkansas Tech Summit.
Aveek Sahana and Sami Sazci helped co-found a nonprofit, Building Arkansas STEM Experiences, to bring hands-on STEM education to younger students and supply STEM kits to children in hospitals.
Students from this year’s Bentonville cohort also plan to pursue degrees across multiple disciplines and incorporate artificial intelligence into their careers. Ann Feutcha has an interest in combining public policy and computer science with a focus in machine learning. Wyatt Davis plans to pursue degrees in mathematics and viola performance.
The Northwest Arkansas and River Valley semifinalists and their high schools are listed here, by hometown.
BENTONVILLE
Bentonville High School: Arjun Achanta, Lillian T. Aicklen, Ezra Brockland, Audrey L. Cope, Wyatt N. Davis, Marlies I. Dolan, Myma E. Dunkin, Naman S. Guggilam, Dev N. Kayanaparambil, Nischal Keshav, Emerson R. Little, Riyan Mathew-Kurian, Shirley A. Messick, Zoe A. Moore, Arjun A. Paradkar, Aditya Ramani, Mairesse T. Rianto, Lucy F. Rustad, Aveek Sahana, Sami I. Sazci, Maanasa R. Seshadri, Matthew M. Sontoski, Marisa C. Sutton, Megan A. Wolfka, Lilly L. Ye
Haas Hall Academy: Ryan Jiang
Thaden School: Rhys R. Buckner
CENTERTON
Bentonville West High School: Hazel Clawson, Beatrix L. Drewyor, Ann S. Feutcha, Tejaswini Gaddam, Abhinav Rajesh, Sana A. Shaik, Aditi Shashidhara, Adit K. Singh, Carter G. Smith, Coleman L. Smith, Fazeela Syed, Elijah D. Taylor, Jolene M. Thakadipuram
Lifeway Christian School: Ava L. Evans
FARMINGTON
Farmington High School: Caitlin Bracy
FAYETTEVILLE
Fayetteville High School: Grant Alderson, Olivia Baker, Jude Cook, Rebekah Hale, Mary Kathryn Irby, Lukas Klaus, Simon Stephenson, Zoe Warren, William Woodruff
Haas Hall Fayetteville: Michael Ault, Ryan Feldner, Caleb Good, Ava A. Johnson, Peter Malakhov, Jinwen Niu, River Rains, Simra Rana, Aniruth Satish, William Taylor, Leo Yu
The New School: Benjamin R. Parvis
FORT SMITH
Southside High School: Halle Anderson, Tyson Blackwell, Timothy Carrier, Benjamin Ostrander, Samuel Prewitt
GREENWOOD
Greenwood High School: Gavin Fiser, Connor Mitchum, Noah Myers
PEA RIDGE
Pea Ridge High School: Hunter Rowlee
PRAIRIE GROVE
Prairie Grove High School: Clara Stephens
ROGERS
Founders Classical Academy: Aurora C. Pace
Haas Hall Rogers: Nia Grover, Quang Nguyen, Puneethen Thirunavukkarasu, Dylan Tran, John Wyman, Liam Zimmerman
Rogers High School: Cowen R. Eide, John R. Patton
Rogers Heritage High School: Miles R. Brannan
Rogers New Tech High School: Nathaniel C. Leffingwell, Colby L. Simpson, Kenrick M. Williams
SILOAM SPRINGS
Siloam Springs High School: Jadon Ho
SPRINGDALE
Har Ber High School: Gwendolyn Ehrnhardt, Leighton Keyes, Nora Rowley
Ozark Catholic Academy: Matthew Poland
National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in four rounds beginning in April 2027 and concluding in July 2027. These scholarship recipients will join over 395,000 other young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title, according to the release.
Miceala Morano can be reached by email at mmorano@nwaonline.com.

Miceala Morano covers education news for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She is a lifelong Arkansan who earned a degree in multimedia journalism from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She began her journalism career writing for the university’s newspaper, the Arkansas Traveler, where she covered breaking news, nonprofits and politics. She interned and wrote freelance pieces for the Democrat-Gazette during college and returned after graduation to cover news on her home turf.
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