Hayden High School’s Caitlin Reinert and Topeka West High School’s Hunter Ellsworth received National Merit Scholarships funded by individual colleges and universities.

Reinert, 18, who earned a 4.o grade point average in four years at Hayden, received money from the University of Tulsa.

“It’s a nice recognition of hard work,” Reinert said. “I worked hard in school because I knew I could get a lot of scholarships. That was a big incentive.”

Reinert scored a 33 on the ACT and plans to study biology at the Oklahoma university she will head to this fall.

Her goal is to attend medical school after that, but she doesn’t yet know what area of medicine she wants to study.

Ellsworth, who graduated in three years from Topeka West, received his scholarship from Kansas State University. He finished his freshman year at the Manhattan school this May but was just named a Merit Scholar per the rules of the scholarship corporation.

Ellsworth has excelled in math and science since seventh grade. He credits Phyllis Hoyt, a math teacher at Topeka Collegiate, and AP classes for his success in the field. He plans to major in math, physics and nuclear engineering.

More than 2,800 students across the country received National Merit Scholarships from colleges and universities in the amount of $500 to $2,000 annually.

Once the 2009 National Merit Scholarship season ends, more than 8,200 students will have been awarded about $36 million for college.

Taylor Atkins can be reached at (785) 295-1187 or taylor.atkins@cjonline.com.