20 of Connecticut’s top scholar-athletes were announced today as state finalists for the 2012 Wendy’s High School Heisman Award program. These finalists are now in the running to become the two state winners, the next phase of the program as applicants advance to become national winners.

There were 393 applicants from Connecticut, which was narrowed down to the state’s 20 finalists. These finalists embody the Heisman spirit of hard work and dedication through their outstanding achievements in athletics, academics and community/school leadership.

The area kids listed below are in bold:

Student Name	Gender	Student High School	Hometown
Shaila Segal	F	Woodstock Academy	Pomfret Center
Erica Bonelli	F	Guilford High School	Guilford
Melanie Byrne	F	East Windsor Jr-Sr High School	Broad Brook
Michele Merwin	F	Sacred Heart Academy	North Haven
Amber Sekoll	F	East Hampton High School	East Hampton
Kathryn Dressel	F	Plainville High School	Plainville
Cameron Chaplen	F	Thomaston High School	Thomaston
Rebekah Hoisl	F	Conard High School	West Hartford
Casey Pearsall	F	Wilton High School	Wilton
Natalie Leslie	F	Brien McMahon High School	Norwalk
Jaryd Hobbs	M	Branford High School	Branford
Kevin Briggs	M	East Windsor Jr-Sr High School	East Windsor
Tyler Hoffman	M	Farmington High School	Farmington
Kahari Mickens	M	High School Inc.	Springfield, Mass.
Robert Roehrich	M	Saint Joseph High School	Shelton
John Pavain	M	Ridgefield High School	Ridgefield
Liam O’Neil	M	Greenwich High School	Greenwich
Christopher Soule	M	Westhill High School	Stamford
Michael Semancik	M	Robert E. Fitch Senior High School	Mystic
Anthony Saccone	M	Ledyard High School	Gales Ferry