Fifteen students in Cape Girardeau County have been recognized through the National Merit Scholarship program.

Five Central High School students were honored as semifinalists in the 42nd annual scholarship competition. They are Lesley A. Clarke, Elizabeth C. Kunz, David J. Meyr, Elizabeth Shivelbine and Victoria A. Ventrella.

Several Jackson High School students received similar honors. They are Shannon L. Perry, Matthew K. Pourney and Andrew K. Wagner.

The students will compete for 7,000 merit scholarship awards worth about $27 million. The final selection will be made in the spring from about 14,000 applicants.

Rahul P. Kamath, Thomas J. McKinney, Josh L. Morgan and Mark J. Scarborough, all of Central High School, were honored by the program as commended students. They are among 35,000 commended students in the nation.

Also commended were Kyle Shaffar from Notre Dame High School and Doug Spooler and Shaun Hanschen of Jackson High School.

The National Merit Scholarship Competition is a privately-financed, not-for-profit corporation. Students qualify for the competition based on their preliminary SAT test scores.