Sapulpa High School senior Noah McCaskey has been named a semifinalists in the 2025-26 National Merit Scholarship competition.
McCaskey received the prestigious honor based on his performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). National Merit Semifinalists represent less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.
“This is an incredible academic achievement,” said Sapulpa Superintendent Rob Armstrong. “Noah’s work is certainly paying off, and we know he has a bright future ahead of him in technology and engineering.”
McCaskey takes rigorous academic courses and engineering tech courses at TCC and Central Tech, already working toward earning college credit. A founding member of the Sapulpa High School eSports team, Noah now works closely with eSports coach Colin McElyea to organize eSports tournaments.
He plans to study nuclear engineering in college and pursue a career in nuclear engineering or computer science.
“I am looking at the University of Michigan for nuclear engineering, because they have the best nuclear program in the country, and they have a nuclear reactor on campus,” said Noah. “Or I would like to go somewhere known for computer science because I want to pursue game development.”
Noah starts a part-time job at Sapulpa’s Waypoint Lounge, a video gaming venue, this weekend.
“I have that experience in eSports, so I am hoping to try to learn more about it because a lot of colleges are looking to build an eSports team,” he said.
Noah is the son of Jered and Jessica McCaskey.
About 1.3 million students took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as juniors during the last school year, with 16,000 earning semifinalist status based on their performance on that exam.
All of the semifinalists now have the opportunity to earn finalist status. In addition to earning high scores on the SAT, they will have to submit applications highlighting their other academic achievements, awards and honors earned, leadership activities, teacher recommendations and an essay.
Finalists will be announced in 2026. They will compete for $26 million in scholarships in the spring.
