photo by: Joselyn King

Wheeling Park High School seniors Grant Kenamond, left, Kathryn Prather, and Ryan Linder celebrate as each were named National Merit Scholars on Wednesday. Kenamond and Prather each will receive $2,500 scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, and Linder was awarded a corporate National Merit Scholarship through Westlake Chemical, which has a site in Proctor.

WHEELING — They’ve grown up together, studied together and competed together. Sometimes they’ve even had to compete against each other.

Now the high school careers of Wheeling Park High School seniors Grant Kenamond, Kathryn Prather and Ryan Linder are coming to an end, and they are all National Merit Scholars.

The National Merit Scholarship Program on Wednesday announced Kenamond and Prather as 2024 Merit Scholars, with each receiving a $2,500 scholarship. They are also both U.S. Presidential Scholar semifinalists.

Linder, meanwhile, received a corporate National Merit Scholarship sponsored by Westlake Chemical, which has a local plant in Natrium near Proctor.

Kenamond and Prather have known each other since they were students at Woodsdale Elementary School, and they befriended Linder in sixth grade at Triadelphia Middle School.

All three students were members of the WPHS Regional Science Bowl team that finished in third place in state competition this year, but they explained Linder’s ability in singing almost got them disqualified from the tournament.

Both All-State Choir and the Science Bowl competitions were both happening at the same time in Morgantown “about 10 to 15 minutes away,” Linder explained.

Prather continued that Linder had been told he could leave to sing with the choir, then return to compete at the Science Bowl. However, when he returned, they wouldn’t let him come back in.

That is when Prather’s father, John Prather, stepped up to his defense.

“My dad took it upon himself to make sure the rule was straightened out, and that we weren’t facing any penalties through Ryan,” Prather explained.

The students have known each other for most of their scholastic careers. They acknowledged while there has been some competition between them, it has also made them better students and stronger achievers.

“I wouldn’t call it a feud. It’s more like camaraderie between us,” Linder said. “Of course, we’re on the same science bowl team.

“These two have been racing each other ever since I met them in sixth grade and the three of us have been at the top of a lot of academic stuff, all these years.”

Prather added “we have to get along.”

“We’re always stuck with each other,” she said. “It’s really annoying if you train to win the state Quiz Bowl and you don’t like your team. That’s not fun.”

There’s definitely “friendly competition” among the three, Kenamond continued.

“And I think that’s a good thing because it makes all of us better,” he explained. “Obviously, there are team things where we work together, but then there are other facets when we get the urge to beat the other person in individual stuff.”

“I would say without having you two around, I wouldn’t do as much as I do right now,” Prather added. “I would be doing more than anyone else, so why do more?

“I wonder if any of us would have won this award if we had grown up by ourselves. … It’s a lot easier to have people around you who care, because it helps you care.”

– Kenamond plans to attend Purdue University and major in chemical engineering.

He served as division leader of WPHS debate team and this year won first place in the West Virginia Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the state competition. Last month, he also was the first Ohio County student to win first place at the State Math Field Day, and last year he served as captain of the West Virginia State Math Team.

He was a national qualifier to the U.S. Chemistry Olympiad, and a two-time qualifier for the North American Computational Linguistics Open Competition.

Kenamond plays violin and piano, and is a member of the WPHS Orchestra. He also is a member of the school’s tennis and quiz bowl teams.

Last December, he was awarded the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission academic achievement award for community service.

He is noted for his tutoring abilities, and he will have a side job now as a tutor with the Prep Expert company.

– Prather is set to attend Johns Hopkins University as an “undecided” engineering major.

A soccer player, she received top honors as the 2023-24 Female Athlete in the WVSSAC academic competition. She is a four-year varsity soccer player at WPHS, with her team having won the AAA Girls’ Soccer State Championship in 2020. She is also a volunteer soccer coach with Wheeling Area Soccer Association (WASA), where she has been head coach for three youth teams.

She is the principal cellist of WPHS orchestra, and has been a member of All-State Orchestra – playing both cello and viola.

Prather is captain of WPHS’s Quiz Bowl team, and a member of the school’s speech and debate team. She is also a three year member of West Virginia’s state team for mathematics, which competes nationally at American Regions Mathematics League (ARML). She interned in materials engineering at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. last summer.

This summer, she plans to help out her grandparents in Minnesota before starting college.

– Linder has decided to attend West Virginia University, where he will major in exercise physiology and perhaps attend medical school.

At WPHS, he was known for his work in broadcasting classes, and for assisting the school’s athletic department with announcing during games.

He sees himself someday maybe being a “medical correspondent” on news shows.

Linder is a member of the WPHS basketball and golf teams, as well as the concert choir and Young Patriots choir. His singing ability got him selected to sing bass for the West Virginia’s All-State Choir.

Linder indicated he hopes to stay in West Virginia after obtaining his medical degree.

Kenamond and Prather both said they would like to come back to the state with their engineering degrees, but they aren’t certain the opportunities will be there for them to do that.