Sixteen Pensacola metro area students joined hundreds of Florida students as  semifinalists for the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation officials recognized high school seniors with the highest scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test who met published program participation requirements. Semifinalists are now eligible to compete for one of 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $35 million.

The local students on the list include:

— Hannah E. Phillips, Tate High School.

— Joshua D. Argentine and Wade G. Player, Gulf Breeze High School.

— Tabitha L. Samuels, homeschooler.

— Maria Gund, Troy Stringfellow, Case Wagner, Pensacola Catholic High; Jett Crowdis, Claire Escobedo, Olivia Liseth, Shayli Patel, Nadia Razek, Laurel Rush, Lauren Shumpert, Caroline Sullivan, Pensacola High; Jon Adler, Trinitas Christian School.

The list of Florida’s National Merit Scholarship semifinalists can be found at http://www.fldoe.org/news/2014/2014_09_17/NatlMeritProgram.pdf.

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