By Tracey Wong Briggs, USA TODAY

From calculating the distance to near-Earth asteroids to performing at Carnegie Hall, the teens on USA TODAY's All-USA High School Academic First Team are reaching for the stars. The 20 high school seniors each receive trophies and $2,500 cash awards as representatives of all outstanding students. Grade-point averages are unweighted and listed on a maximum 4.0 or 100-point scale.

Alice Chen: Harvard-Westlake School, North Hollywood, Calif. GPA: 3.9. Age: 17. Accomplishments: As a pianist, Alice has won the International Los Angeles Liszt Competition and numerous other concerto competitions, soloing 11 times with six community orchestras; first violin, school orchestra; member, county mock trial championship team; High School Advisory Commission to the State Assembly Speaker; American Invitational Mathematics Exam qualifier; school Humanitas service award. Parents: Siven Chen and the late Bor-Uei Chen. College: Harvard.

Ann Chi: Terre Haute (Ind.) South Vigo High. GPA: 4.0. Age: 17. Accomplishments: Ann conducted computational chemistry research on a catalytic reaction mechanism, placing third in the Siemens Westinghouse team competition (splitting $40,000); eighth place ($20,000), Intel Science Talent Search; Math Olympiad Summer Program finalist; All-State golf; All-State Orchestra violinist; Science Bowl captain; math club president; Latin club president; Junior Engineering Technical Society captain; concertmaster, Crossroads of America Youth Orchestra; Seimens Award for Advanced Placement; 1,600 SAT/36 ACT. Parents: Henjin and Yuli Chi. College: Harvard.

Maria Elena De Obaldia: Moorestown (N.J.) High. GPA: 3.97. Age: 17. Accomplishments: Maria researched the importance of heparin binding in retroviral infection, co-authoring a paper in the Journal of Virology; Siemens Westinghouse regional finalist; Intel International Science and Engineering Fair three-time qualifier and Best of Category winner; co-captain, varsity policy debate team; three-year class president; spirit week organizer; Model Congress team; field hockey team. Parents: Jose and Judy De Obaldia. College: Harvard.

Molly Fox: Friends Academy, Locust Valley, N.Y. GPA: 4.0. Age: 18. Accomplishments: With her twin sister, Molly co-authored and published The Raft: A Companion Guide to The Boathouse, a study guide to a young adult novel used by the school for summer reading, and co-founded a middle school writing club; Alzheimer's research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; New York State Health Facilities Young Adult Volunteer of the Year; filmmaking, playwrighting and French awards; founded film appreciation club, orchestra trumpet soloist; Vanity Fair editorial intern. Parents: Mitchell Brian Fox and Katherine Angela Maurer. College: Yale.

Shantanu Gaur: Bethel Park (Pa.) High. GPA: 4.0. Age: 17. Accomplishments: Shantanu's research on the genetic susceptibility to prostate cancer in the male Afro-Caribbean population of Tobago was an Intel International Science and Engineering Fair third-place grand award winner and Young Epidemiology Scholars finalist; USA Mathematical Talent Search bronze winner and USA Biology Olympiad semi-finalist; Genetic Alliance Essay Competition International winner; honor society president; quiz/science bowl captain; founded Amnesty International chapter and Bethel Park High School Lecture Series. Parents: Abhay and Vandana Gaur. College: Harvard.

Lisa Glukhovsky: New Milford (Conn.) High. GPA: 3.9. Age: 18. Accomplishments: Using simultaneous data from U.S. and European observatories, Lisa developed a faster way to accurately measure the distance to near-Earth asteroids, winning $50,000 scholarship at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair; Intel Science Talent Search finalist; Siemens Westinghouse semi-finalist; school orchestra concertmaster; accompanies school choir on the piano; math team; three-year president, temple youth group; fluent in French and Russian; 1,600 SAT. Parents: Zakhar and Anna Glukhovsky. College: Princeton

Mason Hedberg: North Attleboro (Mass.) High. GPA: 93.76. Age: 18. Accomplishments: Winner of the Intel Science Talent Search ($100,000), Mason developed a faster assay to identify potential cancer drugs, which also placed fourth at the Siemens Westinghouse Competition; science club president; honor society president; varsity swim team; designed a four-week science enrichment program for fifth-graders that has spread to three schools; writing a science fair guide for middle and high school students. Parents: Herbert and Cynthia Hedberg. College: Brown

Julian Hong: Ronald Reagan High, San Antonio. GPA: 96. Age: 18. Accomplishments: Julian's research on why reopened blood vessels sometimes close at the site of the stents won a second grand award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair; semi-finalist, Intel Science Talent Search and Siemens Westinghouse Competition; outstanding delegate, Yale University International Model United Nations Conference; science club founder and president; speech and debate team; honor society service project coordinator and vice president; San Antonio Community Orchestra assistant concertmaster. Parents: Alexander and Tina Hong. College: Stanford

Benjamin Lee: Hudson (Ohio) High. GPA: 3.975. Age: 18. Accomplishments: A pianist who has twice played at Carnegie Hall in Sonatina & Sonata International Youth Piano Competition winners recitals, Benjamin has won a national viola award and founded the StringCoach program, a peer tutoring program involving 60 elementary students and high school mentors; principal violist, Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra; honor society president; school newspaper copy and features editor; Academic Decathlon team captain; 1,600 SAT. Parents: Ching-Chih and Meei-Ling Lee. College: Harvard

Simeon McMillan: Uniondale (N.Y.) High. GPA: 4.0. Age: 18. Accomplishments: Analyzing frog and toad sounds, Simeon found the frequency range of the calls is distinct to each species, winning best in category at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair; Intel Science Talent Search finalist; All-Eastern and All-State Honors Symphony Orchestra violinist and co-founder of a string quartet; Spanish Honor Society. Parents: Benet and Doloures McMillan. College: University of Pennsylvania.

Patrick Mihelich: Park Tudor School, Indianapolis

GPA: 3.975 Age: 18 Accomplishments: The 2003 national high school chess champion, Patrick developed a computer interface to improve face-to-face group decision making; chess team captain; Math Olympiad summer program invitee; national top-10 individual and team, Mandelbrot Competition; American Computer Science League team; Brain Game team; lighting designer, school theatrical productions; first clarinet, Indianapolis Youth Wind Ensemble; "Mindstorms" computer programming mentor; 1,600. SAT. Parents: Edward and Loren Mihelich. College: Stanford.

Divya Nettimi: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Va. GPA: 4.0. Age: 18. Accomplishments: Divya derived a new equation for the rate of the myosin biomotor, which drives muscle contraction, and showed how muscle contractions could be more productive; Intel Science Talent Search finalist; Siemens Award for Advanced Placement national winner; semi-finalist, National Chemistry Olympiad; co-founder, president, Assistive Technology Club; president, Spanish Honor Society; co-president, honor society; varsity lacrosse captain. Parents: Vidyadhar and Kalyani Nettimi. College: Stanford.

Mark Schneider: South Windsor (Conn.) High. GPA: 3.8. Age: 18. Accomplishments: Working with his brother, Jeffrey, Mark developed a computer simulation model of the West Nile Virus, which won the $100,000 team prize at the Siemens Westinghouse Competition; wrote, directed, produced and acted in a historical play named semi-finalist in the National Young Playwrights competition; wrote, provided artwork and published novel; National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts honorable mention for playwriting; artwork exhibited at the U.S. Capitol; Boys Nation; drama club; Model United Nations; writing memoir on growing up with Tourette Syndrome. Parents: Ray and Sandy Schneider. College: Yale.

Anna-Katrina Shedletsky: Brewster (N.Y.) High. GPA: 97.64. Age: 17. Accomplishments: Anna-Katrina created a computer generated epidemiological model to study the variability of an epidemic, placing third ($20,000) in the Young Epidemiology Scholars competition; $16,000 National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium category winner; Siemens Westinghouse regional finalist; International Science and Engineering Fair award winner; Intel Sience Talent Search semi-finalist; editor in chief, literary magazine; founded school prose and poetry contest; vice-president, science honor society; creative writing club; Girl Scout Silver Award; WestConn Orchestra violinist refurbished an old, broken violin; writing published in Teen Ink and Teen Ink Poetry Journal. Parents: John and Andrea Shedletsky. College: Stanford.

Angela Shih: Troy High, Fullerton, Calif. GPA: 3.98. Age: 18. Accomplishments: Angela's computational chemistry research involving oxydized sulfur products in the atmosphere placed sixth in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition; member of two-time national championship Science Olympiad Team, she placed sixth nationally in one event by building and playing a violin made out of a cookie tin, wood, nylon and screws; Intel Science Talent Search semi-finalist; American Computer Science League; math club president; school orchestra concertmistress; principal violinist, Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra. Parents: David and Juily Shih. College: California Institute of Technology.

Arjun Suri: Clovis West High School, Fresno, Calif. GPA: 4.0. Age: 17. Accomplishments: Researching flatworms, Arjun created 3-D models to better understand how drugs enter cells; Intel Science Talent Search finalist; Siemens Westinghouse semi-finalist; State History Day winner; Varsity Oxford Debate league champion and state qualifier; senior class vice-president; literary magazine co-editor in chief; Academic Decathlon captain; county student volunteer of the year; 1,600 SAT. Parents: Madhav and Anuradha Suri. College: Harvard

Nneka Ufere: The Westminster Schools, Atlanta. GPA: 97. Age: 17. Accomplishments: Nneka was part of a three-person team finding several genetic patterns added to the database of normal variants in the human genome sequence; essay published in New York Times Upfront; short story published in My Sisters' Voices: Teenage Girls of Color Speak Out; Lincoln-Douglas debate state champion; editor in chief, school newspaper; band president and principal clarinetist; student council secretary; science team vice-president; Sunday school teacher; 1,600 SAT. Parents: Nnaoke and Evelyn Ufere. College: Harvard

Katherine Van Schaik: Spring Valley High, Columbia, S.C. GPA: 4.0. Age: 17. Accomplishments: Rigging one-gallon paint cans with an air-analyzing device and an artifical lung, Katherine studied how much formaldehyde emitted from particle board could be inhaled, winning overall best of category at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair; Siemens Westinghouse and Intel Science Talent Search semi-finalist; research on danger of arsenic-treated lumber in playgrounds published in STATS magazine; president, school's magnet student advisory council; Girls State; Beta club president; state vice-president, Junior Academy of Science; created 17 multimedia marketing presentations for school's magnet program and local charities. Parents: Douglas and Joan Van Schaik. College: Harvard.

Bobby Xu: Illinois Math & Science Academy, Aurora. GPA: 4.0. Age: 17. Accomplishments: Applying a radar/sonar approach to brain imaging, Bobby is first author of a paper published in Physics in Medicine & Biology and presented a paper at an international conference; Siemens Westinghouse regional finalist and Intel Science Talent Search semi-finalist; Siemens Award for Advanced Placement; delegate to NATO science conference in Hungary; USA Physics Olympiad semi-finalist; school newspaper editor in chief; co-founded Miles for Smiles, sponsoring student trips to visit nursing homes; 1,600 SAT. Parents: Xiaoliang Xu and Kathy Cai. College: Harvard.

Chuan Zhang: Paul Laurence Dunbar High, Lexington, Ky. GPA: 4.0. Age: 18. Accomplishments: Chuan has done research creating an adaptive interval model control algorithm with application to a welding process, to be presented at the American Control Conference; Jeopardy! Teen Tournament winner, earning $50,000; state National History Day winner; captain, state champion Academic Team; student council; varsity tennis; Red Cross Club president; 1,600 SAT. Parents: Yuming Zhang and Hong Shao. College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.