Hazen High School senior Sarah Hartley and Lindbergh High School senior Ryan Mauery were named 2017 National Merit semifinalists.

According to a Renton School District press release, the distinction places the two students in the top 1 percent of the 1.5 million high school students who took the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) National Merit Qualifying Test in the fall of 2016.

The students will now compete with 16,000 other high school seniors nationwide for more than $33 million in scholarships offered next spring from the National Merit Scholarship Corp., colleges and universities, and corporate sponsors. Scholarship winners or Merit Scholars will be selected from the finalists after a review of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

After graduation, Hartley plans to study engineering. Mauery will attend Brigham Young University to study biology and physics to pursue a career in either radiology or biomedical research.