Las Cruces Public Schools is proud to announce that nine high school seniors in the district have been named Semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. The announcement was made this morning by officials with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, marking the 71st year of recognizing academic excellence.
Congratulations to the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists from Las Cruces Public Schools. Students are listed alphabetically by high school:
Arrowhead Park Early College High School
Samuel Eorio
Jack Ritzman
William Waltermire
Centennial High School
Evan Richards
Victoria Sohn
Las Cruces High School
Anelise M. Elmquist
Rishi Koodali
Organ Mountain High School
Mason Gardner
Caleb Williams
These academically talented students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for Finalist standing and potentially earn a prestigious National Merit Scholarship.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 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.
Last year, Claire Ewing of Centennial High School was named a National Merit Scholar and received a $2,500 scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2026 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
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