Eleven students have been named in the first round of college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships. The students are among 27 winners in Maryland of scholarships sponsored by colleges and universities throughout the nation. Each sponsor college selected scholarship winners from among finalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution.

So far this year, 47 students in Montgomery County Public Schools have been named Merit Scholars. Another group of college-sponsored Merit Scholars will be announced July 13.

The winners, their intended career fields and scholarship sponsors are:

Montgomery Blair High School: Stone Shen, business, Northwestern University; Monica Wei, biomedical engineering, Northwestern University

Quince Orchard High School: Jennifer Paiva, social science, New College of Florida

Richard Montgomery High School: Charlotte R. Pfeifer, science/research, Carleton College; Martin R. Posthumus, international relations, University of Chicago; Nicholas L. Shawen, engineering, Northwestern University; David A. Shiao, mechanical engineering, University of Maryland

Walter Johnson High School: Zoe E. Polach, mathematics, University of Chicago

Walt Whitman High School: Rachel H. Zhang, business, University of Maryland

Thomas S. Wootton High School: Katherine R. Chao, biology, University of Maryland; Anna T. Pham, biology, University of Maryland