Twenty-two seniors have been named semifinalists in the 40th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program for outstanding African American students.

They are among about 1,600 semifinalists¯including 68 from Maryland¯selected nationwide from more than 120,000 African American students for their high scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The program is administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The semifinalists include seven students from Montgomery Blair, five each from Richard Montgomery and Springbrook, two each from Bethesda- Chevy Chase and Quince Orchard, and one from Gaithersburg high schools.

The semifinalists are:

§ Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School: Brittney N. Fraser, Gregory A. Joice

§ Montgomery Blair High School: Michael C. Campbell, Reyna D. Camps, Mary A. Daniel, Nicole N. Gray, Lindsay C. Hocker, Jenny A. Shungu, Belen Wasihun

§ Gaithersburg High School: Mark S. Byrd

§ Richard Montgomery High School: Kamara A. Boers, Christelle Dorcil, Kamilla R. Hassen, Brittany L. Jackson, Lauren M. Jackson

§ Quince Orchard High School: Kevin D. Lindsay, Lauryn D. Riley

§ Springbrook High School: Gregory H. Pierce, Allison L. Pitt, Michael Y. Reed, Jared M. Richardson, Kyja S. Wilburn

About 1,300 semifinalists are expected to achieve finalist standing and compete for one of 450 National Achievement $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded next spring. In addition, corporations, foundations, and professional associations will finance about another 125 scholarships for finalists who meet the sponsor's preferential criteria. Colleges and universities are expected to provide an additional 200 awards for finalists who plan to attend the sponsoring institutions.

For the 2002-2003 school year, seven Montgomery County Public Schools seniors won $2,500 National Achievement Scholarships.

Winners of both National Achievement Scholarships and corporate-sponsored awards will be announced in late March 2003. Recipients of college-sponsored scholarships will be announced in June.

Since the first Achievement Scholars were named in 1965, more than 24,500 outstanding African American students have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth nearly $75 million.