These academically talented seniors met rigorous requirements to qualify for the prestigious honor and are in the running for significant college scholarships.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal School is proud to announce that each of its nine National Merit Semifinalists have officially advanced as finalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. Launched in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition among high school students for recognition and college scholarships.

“I’m super grateful for the honor and to see my hard work paying off,” said finalist Alex Vokes ’26, who is heading to Pomona College in the fall. “Congrats to everyone else who advanced!”

These academically talented seniors met rigorous requirements last fall to qualify for the prestigious honor, representing less than 1% of the nation's high school seniors. In order to compete for National Merit scholarships and reach finalist status, semifinalists submitted a detailed scholarship application, maintained an outstanding academic record and earned confirming SAT or ACT scores.

“Being named a National Merit finalist is very special because it quantifies all of the hard work I've done over the past few years,” said finalist Eli Yorio ’26, who will be a freshman at The University of Texas at Austin in the fall.

The 2026 Finalists

Congratulations to the following students for their incredible academic excellence:

• Truman Bares ’26
• Liam Eggleston ’26
• Annie Ehrlich ’26
• Felicite Jubelin ’26
• Edison Leigh ’26
• Jiayin Miao ’26
• Avery Robinette ’26
• Alex Vokes ’26
• Eli Yorio ’26

What’s Next?

According to the National Merit Scholarship Corp., more than 95% of semifinalists nationwide have reached the finalist level. These students are now in the running for approximately 6,870 Merit Scholarship awards, worth nearly $26 million.

We are incredibly proud of these Spartans for their hard work and dedication. Please join us in celebrating their remarkable achievement.