Eastside Catholic School proudly recognizes the following students for being named the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Commended Students:

Oleg Chepil|
Angus Crane
Ailynn Gatewood
Ryan Lo
Om Sareen
Arianna Setting
Aaron Liu
Avi Mandhana
James Tupaj
Elliott Wootton
Travis Zhang

These students were honored for their exceptional academic promise, demonstrated by outstanding performance on the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). Their scores placed them among the top 50,000 students nationwide who entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Each year, approximately 34,000 students across the country are named Commended Students based on a national Selection Index qualifying score, without regard to state-by-state distribution. While Commended Students do not continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships, this recognition highlights their strong academic potential and achievement.

High School Principal Soonja Larsen praised the students for their recognition, “Congratulations to our Commended Students for their exceptional work. Scoring in the top percentile of the PSAT/NMSQT is a remarkable accomplishment, and we are incredibly proud of their hard work and academic excellence.”

Established in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Program is an annual academic competition conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®), a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. More than 1.3 million U.S. high school students enter the program by taking the PSAT/NMSQT and meeting published program entry requirements.

Eastside Catholic celebrates these students and looks forward to all they will accomplish in the years ahead.

PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation. National Merit, National Merit Scholarship, and NMSC are federally registered service marks of National Merit Scholarship Corporation.