New Hyde Park Seniors Named National Merit Scholar Semifinalists

NEW HYDE PARK, NY —Nine New Hyde Park seniors have been named semifinalists for the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

The seniors at Herricks High School included Jane Chung, Jay Chung, Abhinav Goyal, Preethi Krishnamoorthy, Samuel Leung, Samantha S. Moy, Kyle Pinzon, Rhea D. Rasquinha and David D. Zhang. The nine were among about 16,000 semifinalists selected across the country from an estimated 1.6 million who entered the academic competition upon taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as juniors.

Semifinalists represent the top 1 percent of United States high school seniors and highest-scoring entrants from each state. The semifinalists each have numerous achievements to their names as a result of their academic excellence and involvement in their school and community.

Jane is a member of the Korean Cultural Club board and the National Honor Society. She participates in National History Day.

Jay is captain of the varsity lacrosse team and first chair for oboe in the wind ensemble, as well as a National Honor Society member.

Abhinav participates in National History Day, band, wind ensemble and student government.

Preethi is president of Coding Club, materials manager for the Robotics Club and a Science Research Program participant.

Samuel is on the varsity badminton, bowling and track teams and plays the oboe in the band.

Samantha is a member of the National Honor Society and STEM Club, and participates in the Science Research Program.

Kyle is student government executive board president, an All-State cellist and a science research student who studied COVID-19 remotely this past summer.

Rhea is executive board vice president for student government and captain of the varsity cross-country team, as well as a science research participant.

David had his research published in the Nitric Oxide international journal this past summer, is part of a group that placed sixth in the national level of National History Day two years ago and serves as captain of the varsity swim team.

They are now eligible to fulfill several requirements, including the completion of a detailed application that would potentially advance them to finalist status.