Nineteen Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students have won $2,500 National Merit Scholarships after meeting rigorous academic standards and other criteria.

The local scholars account for more than a third of the 55 winners from Maryland. Nationally, 2,500 winners were selected from almost 15,000 finalists in the 2004 program, sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

Listed by school, MCPS winners and their intended career fields are:

· Montgomery Blair High School: Easha Anand, journalism; Melis N. Anahtar, biomedical engineering; Lauren J. Cohen, engineering; James J. Gao, engineering; Gregory M. Maker, engineering; Valerie Y. Shen, politics; Gordon L. Su, finance; Xinlei Wang, electrical/biomedical engineering; Kenneth Yan, biomedical engineering

· Winston Churchill High School: Yong S. Han, medicine; Peter K. Law, finance/politics

· Richard Montgomery High School: Elissa P. Frankle, mathematics; Leah F. Greenberg, international relations; Rebecca I. Hartman, medicine; Ethan S. Rosenfeld, not reported

· Quince Orchard High School: Marianna Kondratovich, mechanical engineering

· Rockville High School: Shaleen N. Vira, biomedical sciences

· Walt Whitman High School: Hilary J. Robinson, engineering; Micah S. Ziegler, environmental law/research

The scholars are all high school seniors selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors who evaluated each finalist's academic record, standardized test scores, contributions to school and community activities, personal interests and goals, and recommendations from school officials.

The finalists were selected from about 16,000 semifinalists announced last fall. MCPS had 145 semifinalists.

The announcement brings the number of Merit scholars from MCPS to 27, including eight winners of corporate-sponsored awards. On May 26 and July 12, the NMSC will announce the winners of scholarships sponsored by colleges and universities.