The National Merit Scholarship program has named its semifinalists for the 2014 competition.

The high school seniors were chosen as semifinalists on the basis of their scores on the 2012 PSAT. They can go on to compete for National Merit Scholarships that together are worth more than $35 million next spring.

To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed by officials from his or her high school, earn SAT scores that are on par with his or her PSAT performance and submit an application that includes an essay and list of leadership and community activities.

Here are the National Merit Scholarship semifinalists from Wake County. The semifinalists from Orange, Durham and other counties will appear on the Thumbs Up page next week.

APEX

Apex High School: Rachel D. Mumford, Yu-Ming Shi, Kerri M. Stanton, Leah M. Weaver

Middle Creek High School: Laura E. Steckbeck

CARY

Cary Academy: Emma M. Astrike-Davis, Keegan E. Hines, Hannah L. Hubbard, Shantal M. Jayawickreme, Elliot M. Kuan, Kyle J. Lerch, Elizabeth N. Lewis, Savannah G. Lynn, Austin T. Mangelsdorf, Nisha B. Modi, Brittany L. Schulz, Samuel S. Title, Theodore G. Waechter, Alexis N. Williams

Cary High School: Laura E. Roberson

Green Hope High School: Alexander Bartell, Samuel K. Chao, Inan Z. Husain, Nadia Johnson, Michelle S. Lam, Boning Lu, Thrisha Oruganti, Michael B. Schmithorst, Noam Sheetrit, Anna Sun, Sonya Zhang

Panther Creek High School: Henrik L. Lindvall, Nishad S. Waghmare, Shannon Zhan

HOLLY SPRINGS

Holly Springs High School: Kathleen A. Chenevert, Jacob B. Inkrote

RALEIGH

Athens Drive High School: Jonathan K. Otten

Broughton High School: John T. Baldwin, Gregory D. Weaver

Enloe High School: Francis M. Alcorn, Felix H. Allen, Sarah M. Appleyard, Tanika H. Bantukul, Angela S. Chun, Arjun R. Devarajan, Zane K. Erikson, Chase W. Hatcher, Nathan Hilbrands, Evalyn G. Johnson, Logan M. Johnson, Jonathan Kaplan, Sneha Kumar, Justin Z. Luo, Christopher McBennett, Sarah A. Parker, Harry E. Payne, Amika M. Singh, Dharshan Sivaraj, Yudiyang Zhang,

Cardinal Gibbons High School: Sean J. Feick, Lauren Gustainis, Samuel R. Rosso, Bailey J. Schultz, Laura M. Sheridan

Leesville Road High School: Hannah L. Campo, Juliet G. Simpson, Sahana Venkatesh

Millbrook High School: Trevor L. Davis, Gitanjali Nagulpally

Raleigh Charter High School: Kevin Adington, Sadie E. Bennett, Joseph A. Dugas, Sanjay Raaj V. Gadi, Madeline G. Hren, Sanjay Kannan, Anna L. McConnell, Gautam R. Nagaraj, Elizabeth G. Nicholls, Jeffrey R. Ord, Monika Rajagopalan, Colleen Sharp, Hilary C. Sun, Katherine Trathen, Audrey E. Woolard, Andre W. Zhou

The Ravenscroft School: Sara M. Brown, Darian C. Dorafshar, Maxwell D. Haensel, Evan B. Hale

Sanderson High School: Spencer C. Beck, Christina A. Canale, Sarah G. Morgan

Southeast Raleigh High School: Mason Collier

St. Mary’s High School: Alexandra A. Meads

St. Thomas More Academy: Anna G. Parente

Trinity Academy: Emily E. Duggins, Jacob R. Kaylor

Wake Christian Academy: Carson L. Smith

WAKE FOREST

Franklin Academy: Nicholas W. Mazzoleni

WENDELL

Corinth Holders High School: Grant L. Masini

ZEBULON

Homeschool: Rachel A. Mazur