TRAVERSE CITY — Four Traverse City Area Public Schools students have been named semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Per a Sept. 23 news release, Central High School students Arthur Lijewski-Lee, Alex Potrafke, Lillian Shev and Helly Taylor were among 16,000 students nationwide selected as 2026 National Merit semifinalists.
They will compete for 6,930 National Merit Scholarships. The semifinalists represent less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors.
Seventeen additional TCAPS students were recognized as National Merit Commended Scholars for scoring in the top 3% of U.S. high school seniors on the PSAT/NMSQT.
The Central High School students are Bridget Belden, Abigail Houghton, Raven Mead, Charlie Schwarz and Samuel Tursman.
Theb West Senior High School students are Tucker Ballenger, Owen Chadwick, Edward Chan, Jonah Dorsch, Jonas Heron, Graham Hetherington, Adeline Mulder, Brady Partlo, Katelyn Popp, Landon Rice, Trey Stewart and Owen Wohlfert.
“We are incredibly proud of these students for their academic achievements,” Superintendent John VanWagoner said. “Their hard work and dedication, combined with the commitment of our TCAPS K-12 staff, have distinguished them among their peers.”
More than 1.3 million juniors entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 PSAT/NMSQT, which served as the initial screen for the competition.
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