UNL recognizes Distinguished Scholars of 2009

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will recognize top Nebraska high school seniors for their academic excellence Nov. 5 at the 2009 Distinguished Scholars Recognition Dinner.

These distinguished scholars have demonstrated a high level of ability and a strong commitment to superior performance in academics as indicated by their class ranking, combined with their ACT or SAT test scores. All Nebraska National Merit semifinalists, National Hispanic Scholars and National Achievement Scholars will also be recognized.

The dinner culminated an entire day of events for the Scholars. The Distinguished Scholars Day gives students the opportunity to learn more about the academic programs offered at UNL through the University Honors Program. Students and parents learned about the numerous academic opportunities for students at UNL ranging from research to international experiences to campus resources. All students interacted in small seminar classes on subjects including English, biochemistry, education, engineering, business, journalism and chemistry.

Following is a list by high school of students honored as Distinguished Scholars. The student's hometown is included in parentheses where appropriate.

Adams Central: Joshua Munnell (Hastings), John Oerter (Hastings).

Alliance: Amy Harris, Claire Tolstedt, Christopher Yant.

Ashland-Greenwood: Alysha Garber (Greenwood).

Auburn: Sara Mason (Nemaha).

Aurora: Max Andersen (Marquette), Christian Widhalm.

Bellevue East: Kevin Franco, Alexandra Haflett, David Lang, Josef Lang, Benjamin Petr, Niklaus Stewart.

Bellevue West: Samuel Anderson, Ashley Bigge, Tonni Blount, Erin Burkett (Papillion), Ann Den Hartog (Omaha), Cassandra Fisher, Sarah Griger, Jessica Horrigan, Kelli Huntley, Lillian Kiel, Scott Krebs, Laura Kyriss, Emily Snell, Tony Zilli.

Bennington: Allison Heiman, Sarah Johansen (Omaha), Steven Parkison (Omaha), Allison Siekman.

Blair: Joshua Bartlett, Michael Blaha, Collin Coon, Dillon Dawson, Samantha Dunn, Calvin Harman, Christian Jewett.

Boone Central: Kevin Carder (St. Edward).

Broken Bow: Allyn Leick, Drew Schendt, Samuel Troxel (Berwyn), Mitchell White, Colton Williams, Kylie Williams.

Central City: Maverick Homolka, Abby Rodriguez, Daniel Schwarz (Archer).

Chadron: Jacob Bradley.

Columbus: Jason Bouc, Tyler McConville, Timothy Shannon, Jenna Stecker, Samuel Swartz.

Columbus Scotus: Dillon Clarey.

Creighton: Nichole Boyle.

Crete: Cody Wendelin (Martell).

Crofton: Amanda Janssen.

Cross County: Colton Berck (Osceola).

Diller-Odell: Janelle Rickstrew (Diller).

Douglas County West: Wade Jensen (Valley).

Elkhorn: Nicole Brummond (Omaha), Zachary Christensen, Rachel Coburn (Omaha), Allison Conley, Daniel Dugan, Andrew George. Steven Getzfrid (Omaha), Robert Grove (Omaha), Kevin Huefner, Ryan Kammer (Omaha), Alexander Kirk, Sarah Lant, Andrew Martin (Omaha), Katherine Miller, Alec Nodgaard (Omaha), Taylor Smith, Ruffin Stirling, Megan Tunink, Bailey Wright (Omaha).

Elkhorn Mount Michael: Christopher Hoff (Omaha), Anthony Thiele (Omaha).

Elm Creek: Seth Guthrie.

Elmwood-Murdock: Griffin Hovorka (Elmwood).

Eustis-Farnam: Bryant Keller (Eustis).

Fairbury: Allison Skidmore.

Falls City: Zachary Ernst (Rulo).

Fillmore Central: Cassandra Beale (Geneva).

Freeman: Natalie Lenners (Filley).

Fremont: Sunny Arnold, Gabriel Richards.

Fullerton: Zachary Mckenzie.

Gibbon: Nicole Schuster.

Gothenburg: Mark Hilderbrand.

Grand Island: Audreana Aguilar, Sarah Bauer, Courtney Cahoy, Kari Mettenbrink, Emily Meyer, Lucas Miller, Lance Petersen, Sara Robbins, Evan Stewart, Joseph Weber.

Grand Island Central Catholic: Sarah Jarecke, Dylan Redman.

Grand Island Northwest: Colby Miller.

Gretna: Alexander Arkfeld, Sara Gentzler, James Rittenberger, Lyndsey Stessman, Ryan Zapotocny (Omaha).

Hartington: Dana Fuelberth.

Harvard: Tony Wheeler.

Hastings: Grace Callahan, Aaron Jank.

Hastings St. Cecilia: Morgan Jacobi (Juniata), Rachel Lemke.

Heartland Lutheran: Jeremy Hollman (Hastings).

Holdrege: Adam Christie, Jonathan Larson.

Home school: John Fluehr (Omaha), Kelsey McIntyre (Raymond).

Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer: Dylan Smith (Table Rock).

Humphrey St. Francis: Robyn Classen.

Johnson-Brock: MaryAlice Karel (Johnson), Laura Ruskamp (Auburn).

Kearney: Alina Benavides, Amanda Brandt, Yin Chen, Jacob Jaeschke, Cassie Jarnigin, Dominique Kropp, Abby Riese, Colin Snider, Jakob Strawhecker.

Kearney Catholic: Nathaniel Watley.

Lakeview: Marie Goering (Platte Center).

Lincoln Christian: Andrew Reinke.

Lincoln East: Preston Bradley, Kevin Brodersen, Kyle Carlson, Maesen Churchill, Jahan Claes, Nathan Germer, Isha Jain, Sam Loeck, Ellen Muehling, Emily Ptacek, Dominic Ryan (Walton), Alex Scheideler (Bennet), Jimmy Wang, Thomas Wolf Seewald, Jamie Zillig.

Lincoln High: Robert Carlson, Ian Chapo, Emily Grafton, Nina Pickrel, Benjamin Wheeler.

Lincoln Lutheran: Matthew Eames, Jenna Ripke (Seward).

Lincoln Northeast: Travis Ray.

Lincoln North Star: Joseph Edwards, Alex Pudenz, Eric Thompson, Bret Wurster.

Lincoln Pius X: Brian Casavant, Sean Flattery, Garrett Sutton, Aaron Wurster.

Lincoln Southeast: Caitlin Baker, Andrew Edwards, James Ferguson, Joshua Fromm, Rebekah Hawkins, Sean Higgins, Zachariah Knecht, Wendy Leuenberger, Katelyn LeValley, Timothy Madvig, Elliot Morris, Eric Rock, Jeffrey Rosno, Jeffrey Sheets, Cole Sievers, David Stephens, Lida To, Alex Wilke.

Lincoln Southwest: Becca Changstrom, Arianna Dye, Anna Fangmeier, Mikayla Freese, Erin Kocher, Ted Kocher, Kelly Lindsay, Aleem Malik, Michael Nordell, Parker Schoen, Melissa Schorr, Aaron-Dakotah Sicking, Aubrey Thompson, Wyconda Walstrom.

McCook: Jayde Aufrecht, Rebecca Goodenberger, Keri Hilker.

Mead: Kristina Johnson.

Millard North: Douglas Allan (Boys Town), Kristin Bainbridge, Stephanie Bitzes, Calvin Burnside, Jordan Canterberry, Alexander Carlson, Dana Caudle, Caitlin Cruz, Liang Deng, Schuyler Dougherty, Steven Emmel, Ryan Guthrie, Lanny Holstein, Olivia Holt, Danny Jones, Kyle Jones, Nicole Kraft, Keegan Lunn, Jeffrey Moran, Taylor Muenster, Joshua Muss, Joseph Nields Jr., John Oliver, Ryan Peters, John Peterson, Laura Peterson, Luke Pfeiffer, Michael Ricchini, Matthew Schaich, Jane Seu, Kaiwen Sun, Ian Swanson, Natasha Tomchin, Jau-Ann Tsai, Amy Wattenhofer.

Millard South: Alexander Claussen, Ryan Gill, Keaton Greve, Jayden Nord, Rebecca Pflug, Eric Reznicek, Emily Spencer, Joseph Svoboda.

Millard West: Shane Adams, Myles Azevedo, Brett Bahle, Elizabeth Brown, Tyler Chonis, Billy Coghill, Collin Craft, Blake Dallon, Daniel Eberly, Drew Erickson, Erika Fennen, John Henthorn, Whitney Hirst, Emily Hovdenes, Patrick Jackman, Andrew Kallman, Jessica Klym, Lee Korshoj, Matthew Kottwitz, Tyler Leighty, Sydney Llewellyn, Patrick Lusk, Mohammad Malik, Laurel Metzger, Sachi Mistry, Emilie O'Connor, Kailey Parr, Jason Rogers, Zachary Roth, Ashley Schlaepfer, David Szalewski, Kelsey Tieken, Rachel Torralbas, Sarah Wallis, Benjamin Wicks, Nathaniel Woodford, Alex Zimmer.

Minden: Jessica Preece, Daniel Sanford.

Mother of Divine Grace: Sarah Nicholson (Bellevue).

Nebraska City Lourdes: Gina Gilson.

Norfolk: Kevin Mustelier.

Norfolk Catholic: Cody Stowe.

Norris: Annelise Madison (Roca), Ethan Monhollon (Roca), Melissa Siefert (Hickman), James Verhoeff (Cortland).

North Bend Central: Jacob Kroenke (Dodge), Julia Minarick.

North Platte: Regis Gutz, Richard Poppe, Tatum Schad.

North Platte St. Patrick: Jessica Buhrman, Gregory Vinton.

Oakland-Craig: Allison Hoden (Oakland).

Ogallala: Samuel Adams.

Omaha Benson: Michael Austerberry, Joseph Phillips, Jessica Simpson.

Omaha Brownell-Talbot: Joseph Abraham, Cygne Cooper, Erika Larose, Kelsey Simkins, Ian Suiter.

Omaha Bryan: Emily Divis (Bellevue), Megan Hobbs.

Omaha Burke: Cristen Cavel, Jeffrey Mockelman, David Olney, Anne Prauner, Rachel Soukup.

Omaha Central: Olivia Bishop, Rosemary Brusnahan, Emily Epperson, Emma Erickson, Emmalee Fishburn, Eric Jizba, Clara Kincaid, Catherine Larsen, Carmen Lau (Blair), Theresa Lomneth, Jeanette Miller, Cali Neuberger, Taylor Olson, Elijah Skolfield, Alexandria Tran, Qianli Wang, Matthew Wolford.

Omaha Christian Academy: Luke Henkenius (Arlington), Stephen Jay, Sean West.

Omaha Creighton Prep: Gregory Beaufait, Daniel Christensen, William Coover, Nicholas Davis, Thomas Gilgenast, Aaron Gilman, Timothy Gregg, Nicholas Jesse, Charles Krolikowski, Frank Mezzacappa, Christopher Molini, Mitchell Nohner, Andrew North, William Phelps, Parker Raburn, Gage Rensch, Maxwell Salerno, Nicklaus Schwaller, Evan Shockley, Nickolas Steinauer (Bennington), Wyatt Troia, Samuel Tvrdik, Thai-Son Vu, Christian Warneke, Sebastian West.

Omaha Duchesne: Alexandria Emig, Kathleen Kokensparger, Monica Meeks, Jamie Porter, Laura Thayer (Bellevue), Sara Winkler.

Omaha Gross: Sean Cork (Bellevue), James Gehringer (Papillion), John Hotovy (Papillion).

Omaha Marian: Autumn Baldwin, Kathleen Borghoff, Makayla Caumeran, Alexis Fee, Angela Gillespie, Kelsey Han, Alicia Hoffmann, Audrey Horrum, Shelby James (LaVista), Kathleen Kendall, Kelly Lange, Melanie McCormick, Rachel Witt.

Omaha Mercy: Christina Disomma (Plattsmouth), Elizabeth Meisinger, Allie Schulte, Jessica Swiniarski (Papillion), Rachel Westwood.

Omaha North: Emily Adams, Laura Armitage, Zachary Baltz, Matthew DeVeney, Daniel Geschwender, Hannah Pinnt, Kathleen Porter, Kelsey Schluter, Andrew Schroeder, Lillian Steckman.

Omaha Northwest: Eric Holley, Christina Rowe.

Omaha Roncalli: Sean Carney.

Omaha Skutt: Cameron Beauchamp, Brian Grieb, Anna Heffron, Michaela Klesitz, Jennilee Mccarty, Kenneth McNew, Joseph Pieper, Kerry Pivovar (Elkhorn), Siddharth Rai, Kathryn Smid, Paul Troupe, Kyle Tucker (Elkhorn).

Omaha Westside: Julie Aust, Christiana Eltiste, Lauren Florea, Nicholas Goeser, Hailey Gould, Kathryn Hamel, Grace Lyden, Kevin North, Allison O'Dell, William Rafael, Hannah Rector, Zachary Robinson, Chase Ross, Elisabeth Thoreson-Green, Mingliang Wang, Alex Zhu.

O'Neill: Dalton Dick (Inman).

O'Neill St. Mary's: Joshua Tomjack (Ewing).

Orchard: Jordan Martin.

Osmond: Adam Miller.

Papillion-LaVista: Justin Bakke (LaVista), Brooke Helmberger (Papillion), Joshua Hemmingson (LaVista), Caley Johnson (LaVista), Samuel Nobbs (Papillion), Chase Rock (Papillion), Cristina Woodworth (Papillion), Amanda Yong (LaVista).

Papillion-LaVista South: Aislyn Anderson (Papillion), Kathryn Conroy (Papillion), Christopher Grimm (Papillion), Christopher Manchigiah (Papillion), Elizabeth Monzingo (Papillion).

Paxton: Annemarie Little, Mattingly Perlinger.

Platteview: Caitlynn Lassek (Springfield).

Plattsmouth: Brady Swope.

Ponca: Benjamin Gehring.

Ralston: Courtney Fraser (Omaha), Kyle Kaluza (Omaha), James Sadowski (Omaha), Paul Weidner (Papillion).

Randolph: Matthew Graham (Belden).

Red Cloud: Sierra Randall.

Schuyler: Sarah Brichacek (Clarkson).

Scottsbluff: Dexter Ott.

Seward: Thomas Bainter, Kylee Pernicek, Andrew Sorsen.

Sidney: Bret Bayne.

Sioux County: Luke Wilson (Harrison).

Southern: Colby Argo (Liberty).

Southern Valley: Allison Kuhl (Stamford).

Thayer Central: Kelsey Loontjer (Chester).

Valentine: Sarah Simmons.

Wahoo: Joseph Nabity.

Wahoo Neumann: Ben Fisher.

Wakefield: Tyler Bodlak (Emerson).

Waverly: Alyssa Erickson (Lincoln).

Wayne: Levi Kenny (Carroll).

West Point-Beemer: David Moore (West Point).

Wilber-Clatonia: Kessa Rezny (Wilber).

York: Alexander Adams, Matthew Heng, Matthew Martin, Wyatt Suddarth.

Yutan: Jordan Zauha.