Eight high school students from the valley have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.

Semifinalists include, Zachary Ade of Whitefish High School; Reuben Hubbard of Bigfork High School; Kayla McDowall of Columbia Falls High School; Tucker Nadeau and Julia Sauve, both of Flathead High School; and Harrison Rennie, Keegan Siebenaler and Trevor Woodward, all of Glacier High School.

These students are among roughly 16,000 high school seniors around the U.S. competing for more than $32 million in scholarships offered in the spring, according to a press release.

About 1.6 million juniors entered the scholarship program by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Semifinalists represent students with the highest scores in each state.

To become finalists, semifinalists must submit applications that provide information about their academic record, activity participation, leadership abilities, employment and awards received in addition to writing an essay, being recommended by a high school official and earning a high SAT score.

About 15,000 students will advance as finalists competing for scholarships. Finalists will be notified in February.

For more information visit http://www.nationalmerit.org.