MURRAY — Kristen Larsen held a stack of sheet music across her chest and calmly waited for her turn in front of judges at the first round of the 2001 Sterling Scholar competition.
When the door opened, the senior at Taylorsville High School took a deep breath before walking toward a piano to play the complicated notes of a traditional Argentine dance.
"Ooh, she's doing really good," said friend Angela Perrington, listening outside the door. Perrington, from Cottonwood High, had performed a flute solo for the judges earlier that day.
Larsen and Perrington are among the 676 students from 52 Utah high schools vying for top honors at the 40th annual competition that honors outstanding teenage scholastic, leadership and volunteer efforts.
Semifinal judging of the 40th annual competition — which is sponsored by the Deseret News and KSL Television — was Wednesday at Murray, Copper Hills and Roy high schools.
Academic excellence and extracurricular activities of competitors in 13 categories were evaluated during interviews. Judges might also ask a student to solve a complex math problem or perform a dance routine.
After the first round of judging was over, 15 students in each category advanced to the next level of competition. The final round of judging will be March 7.
Winners, who will share $21,000 in scholarships, will be announced March 28 at Cottonwood High School.
A general scholarship Sterling Scholar, the student chosen by judges as the top scholar from all of the categories, also will be honored.
Two other $100 awards will be presented March 28.
The year's outstanding student in a technical field will be given the Philo T. Farnsworth-Governor's Award.
Another student will be honored with the Douglas F. Bates Community Service Award, which is named for a longtime attorney for Utah's State Office of Education.
Ari Khefeifi, who represented Highland High School in the visual arts, showed the judges 20 paintings and drawings he'd worked on for three years. The prospective University of Utah art student tries to capture his memories on canvas.
"A lot of my artwork is inspired by what I've seen and through my travels," said Khefeifi, who has visited his mother's homeland of Bolivia and his father's native Libya.
"I like to put in aspects of my culture in most of my work."
Andrea Gray, the family and consumer science Sterling Scholar nominee from Taylorsville, looked relieved after walking out of her interview.
"I'm glad it is over," said Gray, who showed judges a book she compiled of her grandmother's recipes, jars of preserves and items she had sewn. Gray's recipe book won a prize at the Utah State Fair last summer.
"I wasn't really nervous. I'd gone over some interviewing techniques so I felt kind of prepared," she said. "I've been getting ready for this for a while."
E-MAIL: jeffh@desnews.com