TRAVERSE CITY — Four Traverse City Area Public Schools students have been named semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Per a Sept. 23 news release, Central High School students Arthur Lijewski-Lee, Alex Potrafke, Lillian Shev and Helly Taylor were among 16,000 students nationwide selected as 2026 National Merit semifinalists.

They will compete for 6,930 National Merit Scholarships. The semifinalists represent less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors.

Seventeen additional TCAPS students were recognized as National Merit Commended Scholars for scoring in the top 3% of U.S. high school seniors on the PSAT/NMSQT.

The Central High School students are Bridget Belden, Abigail Houghton, Raven Mead, Charlie Schwarz and Samuel Tursman.

Theb West Senior High School

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