County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and Superintendent Dallas Dance recognized 17 out of 19 local National Merit Scholarships finalists at a Thursday afternoon ceremony.

"Statistically, you all are going to live well," Kamenetz joked. "When each of you are doing well in your life, I want you to remember who funded your education."

The county executive noted that about 1.5 million juniors from 22,000 high schools applied for the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT. Of that number, 16,000 semifinalists—representing less than 1 percent of the now high school seniors in the nation—were selected as semifinalists in September 2012.

Baltimore County Public Schools had 23 semifinalists.

Dance noted that the school system had one of the highest percentage of finalists in the country.

"Really it's all about recognizing you for the good work you do," he told the students at the ceremony.

Notables in the prestigious group included Lisa Tang from Dulaney High School, who was recently honored by the county for being named a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search, and Emily Behnke and Vincent Ciattei, both of whom participated in the pilot Summit program that placed select high-achieving freshmen in advanced placement classes.

"They're driven; they work hard; they're dedicated," Perry Hall High School Principal George Roberts said of his students.

The students are now eligible to compete for 8,300 National Merit Scholarships valued at more than $32 million. Winners will be announced in April, May and July.

The following is the full list of finalists:

Catonsville High School

Adam T. Antoszewski

Victoria L. Monsaint-Queeney

Dulaney High School

Kushal Byatnai

Minwei Cao

Helen Gao

Fan K. Jia

Casey G. Lim

Amanda Olson

Lisa A. Tang

Gabrielle T. Welsh

Franklin High School

Keenan E. Albee

Erin M. Smith

Hereford High School

Maggie R. Cason

Christine K. Dreyer

Connor A. O'Rourke

Perry Hall High School

Emily R. Behnke

Vincent J. Ciattei

Towson High School

Andrew N. Bortvin

Colin A. Parts