Five Steamboat Springs High School seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The distinction puts the students — Grey Barbier, Connor Frithsen, Bryson Lee, Alena Rossi and Charlotte Teuscher — in elite company, as the nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1% of high school seniors in the U.S., according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

More than 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screening for entrants.

“Congratulations to these outstanding students for receiving such a distinguished honor,” said Celine Wicks, superintendent of the Steamboat Springs School District. “We wish them the best of luck as they move forward in the scholarship process.”

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

A semifinalist must also have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

The 2024 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April and concluding in July.