Staff Report
Ruston High School’s Trisha Pangilinan has been named a National Merit Finalist and will now compete for one of the 6,870 National Merit Scholarships.
“Trisha is a phenomenal student and just a wonderful person in general,” Ruston High Principal Dan Gressett said. “We are talking about a student with a perfect ACT score, five highest scores possible on AP exams, and someone who has never made less than an A in any course at RHS. I’d have been shocked if she didn’t become a national merit finalist. We are extremely proud of her and look forward to her advancing in this competition.”
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2026 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join approximately 389,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
