Bowling Green City School District has announced that Bowling Green High School senior Lucy Nomaguchi-Long has been named one of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
As a semifinalist, Lucy will have the opportunity to compete for one of nearly 7,000 National Merit Scholarships, worth nearly $26 million, to be awarded next spring. Finalists will be announced in February 2025, with scholarship winners revealed in nationwide news releases from April through July.
Lucy earned this distinction by scoring among the top 1 percent of over 1.3. million U.S. high school seniors. She qualified through her performance on the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
She is part of a select group of students nationwide recognized for their academic excellence, leadership, and potential. Semifinalists must meet rigorous criteria, including maintaining an outstanding academic record, receiving a recommendation from a school official, writing an essay, and confirming their PSAT/NMSQT scores with their SAT or ACT results.
Beyond her academic achievements, Lucy is a standout leader at Bowling Green High School. She serves as Senior Class President, Model UN Club President, and Secretary of the BGHS Orchestra. Lucy has earned awards at international Model UN conferences, competing alongside delegates from over 400 countries. She also serves as a research assistant in a Molecular Biology lab at Bowling Green State University, working on retrovirology research with Dr. Julia V. Halo’s team.
Outside of the classroom, Lucy is a nationally recognized figure skater, where she excelled in her Gold Moves in the field test. She also coaches group figure skating lessons and volunteers in the community as a Counselor in Training (CIT) for Metroparks Toledo, and as a general Metroparks volunteer she has contributed to environmental efforts such as park cleanups and native seed restoration, in addition to outdoor skills programming. In her free time, Lucy enjoys creating art across various mediums, adding yet another dimension to her talents and interests.
Lucy’s qualification as a National Merit Semifinalist is a testament to her exceptional dedication, leadership, and academic excellence. BGCS officials said they are incredibly proud of her accomplishments and look forward to supporting her as she advances in the competition.
For more information about the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit www.nationalmerit.org.
