Four Lake County public school students named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

TAVARES — What do Carol Cash, Vishal Narine, Ryan Oikle and Andrea Noele Reyes have in common?

They are the four Lake County public school students among the 16,000-plus national semifinalists named in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Cash attends Eustis High School, Narine attends Lake Minneola High School, Oikle attends East Ridge High and Reyes attends Leesburg High School.

The academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. 

More than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools across the U.S. entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. 

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

Finalists are notified in early February by mail at their home addresses. Students may also access their finalist letter through their online scholarship application account.

In other school-achiever news

Lake Minneola High School has shared news that student Gannon Johnson has been selected to the 2024 USA Lacrosse All-Academic Team and the 2024 Florida State Lacrosse Coaches Association (FSLCA) All-State Lacrosse Team.

"These prestigious honors recognize Johnson's outstanding performance and significant contributions to the Lake Minneola Hawks boys’ lacrosse team during an exceptional junior season," a Lake County Schools release said.

"Gannon Johnson played a pivotal role for the Hawks, who finished the season with an impressive record of 11 wins and 5 losses. Showcasing their strength throughout the season, the team earned a place in their district championship tournament, where they finished second place in the district after being defeated in the championship game by West Orange High School."