Seniors Clara McCreery, Heather Menefee and Zach Schloss each won $2,500 dollars in National Merit Scholarships April 20.

In addition, seniors Colin Epperson, Jonny Schear and Tessa Morrison won corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships, and seniors Adam Schefkind and Marshall Thompson won college-sponsored awards May 24.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation named 16,000 semifinalists in fall 2010 based on PSAT/NMSQT scores by state. Fifteen thousand advanced to the finalist level, with about 7,800 seniors being named National Merit Scholars.

McCreery, Menefee and Schloss are among 35 Maryland scholars. Twenty-four students reached the semifinalist level.

Schloss said he was happy he won the award as a representative from Whitman.

“When they called all of us in, there were a lot of talented, very smart people, and after that, they look at your whole high school career,” Schloss said. “So, it felt very good to be picked as one of the three from Whitman.”

Menefee expressed uncertainty regarding her opinions on the scholarship selection process but was ultimately grateful for the award.

“My position on standardized test scores as determining academic ability is kind of different,” Menefee said. “But any time that an organization can offer money to help students get their college education, I think that’s a great thing for them to do.”