2 Former St Catherine Students Named National Merit Semifinalists

OAK LAWN, IL — Two Marist seniors were named National Merit Semifinalists. Colin Dillon and Thomas Kavanaugh, both of Oak Lawn, are graduates of St. Catherine of Alexandria School.

While at Marist High School, Dillon has participated in math team, academic teach, National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, student council, and the tennis program. Dillon is considering the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University. He will likely pursue an engineering-related field.

Kavanaugh is the captain of cross-country team and also competes in track and field in the spring. He is a member of the math team. His list of potential colleges includes Marquette University, Vanderbilt University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University. He plans to major in finance or engineering.

The former St. Catherine students represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state.

More than 1.5 million entrants are screened each year by the Evanston-based National Merit Scholarship Program after taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). There are approximately 16,000 National Merit Semifinalists in the U.S. and they can advance to finalist standing by meeting high academic standards and all other requirements. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.