Riley Neal, a senior at Savoy High School, has been named a winner of a National Merit Scholarship financed by US colleges and universities.  Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the Finalists in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution.   Riley will attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas where he will participate in their Honor’s program. 

 About 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2014 National Merit Scholarship competition when they took the 2012 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.  Last fall, approximately 16,000 Semifinalist were named.  These Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.   

 Riley, this year’s SHS Valedictorian, is set to receive over $200,000 in combined scholarship money from Baylor University as well as other local, State, and National scholarships.

Congratulations to Riley and his family.  Riley is the son of Brian and Meredith Neal of Savoy and the grandson of Patsy Neal of Luella and Suzanne Rackley of Van Alstyne.