A local student at Vinton County High School has been nominated to several U.S. military academies.

Tyler Barnett, a senior at VCHS and the son of Sherman Barnett and Nancy Harris, recently received these honors.

U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Upper Arlington) nominated Barnett to West Point, the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also nominated Barnett to the Air Force Academy.

In news releases, both Stivers and Brown congratulated his achievements.

Stivers wrote he was "honored" to nominate Barnett, adding "I thank him for his willingness to serve our country."

Brown wrote that nominees like Barnett "embody the integrity and courage needed to represent and uphold the values of our nation."

Barnett is an accomplished athlete and student at VCHS. He was named a Vinton County Chamber of Commerce Student of the Month in November 2015.

In sports, he is a member of the Vikings varsity basketball team. This past fall, he helped lead the Vikings golf team to its second-straight league championship. Barnett was among five golfers to compete at the Division II Southeast District tournament. For his efforts, he was named the Courier newspaper's Male Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 7, 2015.

He regularly appears on the VCHS Honor Roll list (often with All A's). In both 2014 and 2015, the National Honor Society named Barnett an Honor Award and Scholar Athlete Award winner.

A popular figure among his classmates, Barnett was crowned the school's Homecoming King this school year. He has also been involved in the Spanish Club and Vikings Vibe school newspaper.

To attend these service academies, students must first apply to their respective Congressmen for nomination. An advisory committee for each member of Congress then chooses a select number of applicants.

Rep. Stiver's district encompasses 12 counties in south-central Ohio, including Vinton County. This year, Barnett is among Stivers' 10 nominees to West Point, 13 nominees to the Air Force Academy and 10 nominees to the Naval Academy.

Sen. Brown represents the entire state of Ohio and nominates just 10 students each to West Point, the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy and Merchant Marine Academy. To be nominated to the Air Force Academy by Sen. Brown, as Barnett was, puts him in very select company throughout all of Ohio.

Nominees are not guaranteed acceptance into the service academy; each Academy's Admissions Board decides who is ultimately appointed to attend.