XENIA — Two Legacy Christian Academy students were named National Merit semifinalists this week.

John Arthur and Ariel Brandt were among the 16,000-plus named by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. More than 1.3 million juniors from 21,000 high schools across the nation entered by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, and approximately 7,200 scholarships worth nearly $28 million will be awarded in the spring.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level. About 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to advance and approximately half of them will win a scholarship.

Among the requirements are submitting a detailed application, in which the student and high school official provide information about the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. The student must also write an essay.

Arthur said that he feels “excited” and is currently planning to major in bio medical engineering, with the goal to go to medical school afterwards.

Brandt said that she is excited as well and is currently planning to study physics in college and attend grad school afterwards.