BLANCHESTER — Richard Davis III has been named a Commended Student in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program, Blanchester High School Principal Chris Smith announced.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

Although they will not continue in the 2019 competition for National Merit Scholarship awards, Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 scorers of more than 1.6 million students who entered the 2019 competition by taking the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

“We are very proud of Ricky for being recognized on a national level for such a prestigious qualifying test as the National Merit Scholarship,” said Smith. “It speaks to his character and work ethic. He is a fine young man with a bright future.”