Laudable Lawrentians Earn Honors Across Arts and Academic Competitions

Students across Lawrenceville continue to earn recognition in competitions, scholarship programs, and academic research. Here are some recent accomplishments:

A piano performance of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-Sharp Minor earned Elias Nicozisis ’28 first place in Jersey’s Got Talent this past summer. The win followed his seventh appearance at Carnegie Hall as both a soloist and duet pianist. Nicozisis has also earned the International Music and Arts Grand Prize, the Young Performers Foundation First Place Award, and the MusicFest Grand Prix. Photo of Nicozisis was taken by photographer Jeffrey Auger, courtesy of The State Theatre New Jersey. 

Martina Yanovovic ’26 won Lawrenceville’s annual all-School Public Speaking Contest on February 19. Charlotte Aitken-Davies ’27 placed second and Afra Miao ’28 third. Students addressed the prompt: “What’s something you believe to be true about the world, even though you can’t prove it?”

In Lawrenceville’s English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition, Vincent Jie ’27 placed first and Lisa Kwafo ’29 second. They are pictured here with Performing Arts Chair and Director of Theatre Matt Campbell.

After winning Lawrenceville’s Poetry Out Loud competition and the New Jersey Division One championship, Afra Miao ’28 advanced to the state finals of the 2026 contest.

Bastian Xavier Bocklage, Yuna Cho, Yukan Du, Victor Nikolaev, Yuhan Clare Pei, Mira Ponnambalam, Ivan Spodin, Jack Wade, Alice Xie, Su Yang, Annabelle Yao, and Qiuen Yu, all Fifth Formers, have been named finalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Competition.

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.