INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance has announced the state finalists in the eXceL Awards competition. Now in its 19th year, the eXceL Awards highlights the artistic talents of Hoosier high school students. Each finalist has a chance to win a college scholarship. Sponsored by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance since the 1989-1990 school year more than one-half million dollars has been awarded to Hoosier students through this competition.

The eXceL Awards state finals will be Saturday, April 12, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center on the University of Indianapolis campus. The public is invited to attend, and admission is free.

High school students throughout Indiana are competing in six categories of artistic expression: writing, music, two-dimensional art, three-dimensional art, video, and performance. Secrets is the topic for this year’s competition.

The finalists are:

Adams County
• Gavin Hisner (Bellmont High School)

Allen County
• Seth Boyden, Marshall Nill, Max Roesler (Bishop Dwenger High School)
• Cora Mills, Holly Wright (Carroll High School)
• Justin Englert, Jack Flick (Concordia Lutheran High School)
• Cheyenne Poling, Breana Tanner (R. Nelson Snider High School)

Bartholomew County
• Zac Brown (Columbus East High School)
• Mariah Minnemann (Hauser Jr.-Sr. High School)

Benton County
• Lindsey Keiser, Kendyl Kirts, Mercedes Pritchett (Benton Central Jr.-Sr. School)

Boone County
• Benjamin McNees (Western Boone Jr.-Sr. High School)

Clark County
• Aaron Mikel, Kolton Norton, Sarah Vogt (Silver Creek High School)

Delaware County
• Monica Engle, Dan Hornsby, Lauren Linder, Derrick Wu (Yorktown High School)

Elkhart County
• Michael Miller, Brandy Sechrist (Elkhart Central High School)

Floyd County
• Amber Clayton, Regan Green (New Albany Senior High School)
• Meredith Kimmel, Audrey Minix, Colin Schreier, Katie Thurston, Anastasia Windle (Floyd Central High School)

Hamilton County
• Christie Buck, J.C. Pankratz, Erin Spahr (Carmel High School)
• Ryan Carr (Hamilton Southeastern High School)

Hendricks County
• Drew Varvel (Bethesda Christian School)
• Cate Gattone, Robbie Nix (Brownsburg High School)

Howard County
• Sean Ashcraft, Alex Dobbert (Eastern Jr.-Sr. High School)
• Aaron McCauley, Andrew Prestler, Jacob Taylor (Kokomo Area Career Center)

Johnson County
• Jenna Rifkind, Barton Robison, Lindsay Smith (Center Grove High School)

Marion County
• Ashley Jenkins, Gregory Manning, Ashlee Turner (Broad Ripple High School)
• Edward Banks, Hillary Smith (Cathedral High School)
• Tara Manley (Franklin Central High School)
• Nadalie Cayetano, Jeannette Greven, Tasha Lewis (International School of Indiana)
• Garrett Henry (Lawrence North High School)
• Madeline Eckrich, Paul Haney, Frank Loftus, Anthony Mulinaro, Kenneth Quilaton (Roncalli High School)
• Ricky Ashmore, Sara Justus (Warren Central High School)

Noble County
• Elizabeth Atz, Ryan Meyer, Shelby Wainwright (East Noble High School)

Orange County
• Brittany Emmons (Springs Valley Community High School)

St. Joseph County
• Nicholas Gunty (Marian High School)
• Hannah Osborn (John Adams High School)
• Alexandra Jarvis, Nicholas Sobecki (Penn High School)

Tippecanoe County
• Jasmyn Mudrich, Rachel Walsh (Lafayette Jefferson High School)
• Michael Marencik (McCutcheon High School)
• Alex Bohs, Jenna Kazmierczak, Jennifer Smith (William Henry Harrison High School)

Vanderburgh County
• Tabitha Cravens (Evansville North High School)
• Brittany Lynn Beavin (Signature School)

Wayne County
• Aria Blair Reid (Richmond High School)