For the first time since 2015, Ada High School has a National Merit Semifinalist.

Senior, Emilio Benton was one of more than 16,000 semifinalists across the United States in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship program.

Students entered the program as juniors when they took the Preliminary SAT, which serves as an initial screening tool.

As semifinalists, the students are in the running for 7,500 National Merit scholarships worth about $28 million that will be awarded next spring.

The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to its percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. Nationwide, the number of semifinalists is less than 1% of all high school seniors.

Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level, according to a news release.

In addition to submitting detailed scholarship applications, the students must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and write an essay.

Additionally, they have to earn ACT or SAT scores that confirm their previous performance on the screening test.