REGION : Whitney High Leads in Scholarship Semifinals

Whitney High School in Cerritos has placed 20 students in the semifinals for National Merit Scholarships, more than any other school in the Southeast and Long Beach areas.

The Whitney students are in a pool of about 15,000 semifinalists who are eligible to receive 6,700 college scholarships worth $26 million from the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Finalists will be chosen next spring.

Winners are chosen based on their academic record and on the scores they received on nationwide tests last year.

The semifinalists from the Long Beach and Southeast area:

Cerritos

Valley Christian: Christine L. Hoffmann.

Whitney: Saurabh Bajaj, Rungthip Choensookasem, Diana H. Hu, Patty P. Huang, Brian T. Kang, Yushun C. Kao, Raymond N. Kim, Brian Lee, Carol Y. Lee, Kevin A. Lee, Kuowei Lee, Sung J. Lim, Jefferson K. Luan, Peter S. Manasantivongs, Jae Park, Rosemary C. She, Edgar Smith, Sylvia A. Son, Anita S. Wang, Janelle A. Weaver.

Downey

Warren: Anne M. Brinkman, Erin G. Cline.

Lakewood

St. Joseph: Samantha L. Howarth.

Long Beach

Poly: Jeffrey N. Johnson, Richard W. Lee.

Millikan: Ann M. Zeller

Montebello

Schurr: Dana H. Hangai

Norwalk

Glenn: Truc H. Duong

Whittier

La Serna: James L. Buxbaum

Whittier: Micah T. Dedmon

Santa Fe Springs

St. Paul: Larry R. Boyd