THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, May 14, 1996                  TAG: 9605140273
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   48 lines

5 STUDENTS WIN NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS WINNERS CHOSEN FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP AND ACADEMICS.

Five area students are in the first two groups of National Merit Scholarship winners, announced by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Three of the students won single-payment $2000 scholarships, while two won corporate-sponsored scholarships.

Local single-payment winners are:

David E. Arthur of Lakeland High School in Suffolk. He's a varsity baseball player, academic team captain and Spanish club treasurer. Arthur plans to study biomedical engineering.

Donald S. Christman of Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach. He's a peer tutor, National Honor Society vice-president, and Latin Honor Society president. Christman plans to major in psychology.

Ranjit K. Goudar of Norfolk Collegiate School in Norfolk. Goudar is a varsity lacrosse player and wrestler and a winner of Princeton and Darmouth book awards. Goudar plans to major in medicine.

Corporate scholarships were awarded to:

Sarah M. Kaylor of Nandua High School in Onley. Kaylor participates in forensics. She also took second place in the National Latin Exam, and won the Princeton and Randolph-Macon book awards . She plans to major in evironmental science.

Hillary L. Krell of Holmes High School in Edenton. Krell is a member of the National Honor Society and Key Club, co-captain of the varsity cheerleading squad and a member of the varsity tennis team. She plans to study engineering.

Nationwide, more than 6,900 students will win Merit scholarships this year, totalling more than $27 million The finalists are seniors who have qualified from 14,000 high schools across the country. More than one million students entered the comptition when they took the Preliminary Standardized Assessment Test in 1994. Top scorers, representing about one half of one percent of high school seniors nationwide, were initially named semi-finalists.

Scholarship winners are chosen on the basis of academic record, scores from additional tests, demonstrated leadership, contributions to the school and community, and other criteria. by CNB