ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - A total of 15 Rocky River High School seniors were named National Merit Qualifiers, including four students who have been named as semifinalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Competition and 11 who were recognized as National Merit Commended Students. 

This year's National Merit Semifinalists from Rocky River are Jacob Cain, Alexandra Gluntz, Ava Rauser and Charlotte Weixel. These four students will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarship awards that will be offered in the spring.

Rocky River's 12 students who were recognized as National Merit Commended students are Elizabeth Douglas, Phoebe Dunn, Catherine Durkin, Thomas Kelly, John McDonough, Cameron Morris, Raygan Murray, Ryan O'Donnell, Joshua Olson, Alexandra Ruffus, Justin Smith and Rachel Solecki.

xMore than 1.6 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2017 Prelimiary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide list of semifinalists, which represents less than one-percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.

Rocky River's four National Merit Semifinalists will continue in the competition to become National Merit Scholar finalists by fulfilling several additional requirements in the coming months. About 15,000 students who earned the semifinalist distinction throughout the U.S. are expected to advance to the Finalist level, which is slated to be announced in February.

The 2019 National Merit Scholarship winners of 2019 will be announced in four nationwide news releases from April through July.