CANFIELD — National Merit Scholarship officials announced the names of approximately 16,000 semifinalists in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Canfield High School student Audra Pesko was named a semifinalist.

As a result, she will be in contention for one of 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.

Ashley Thompson, Prabh Dhaliwal and Nick Goodrich were named to the list of commended scholars, placing them in the top 50,000 students of the more than 1.5 million students to take the test.

The program is highly competitive and recognizes students who demonstrate exemplary academic ability and the potential for success in rigorous collegiate study.