Stowe, Vt. — The Woodstock Bantam Red youth hockey team earned a spot in the USA Hockey Tier II national championship tournament with a 2-1 win over Essex on Sunday for the Vermont Tier II state title at Stowe Arena.

Wing Luke Ricci gave the Wasps the game’s first lead, taking a two-line breakout pass from Field Willis before slipping a shot through the Essex goaltender’s legs. The Sting picked up the pressure, forcing several stops from Woodstock goaltender Keaton Piconi before finally tying the game early in the third period.

The Wasps potted the game-winning goal shortly thereafter through Andrew Gubbins, with Riley Shepherd providing the assist. Woodstock held on from there over the final four minutes, holding off Essex’s sixth-attacker pressure late.

The Wasps are bound for Coral Gables, Fla., later this month for the Tier II nationals.

Bantam White Falls in Final

Stowe, Vt. — Woodstock Bantam White also made the final in its Vermont state tournament, dropping a 4-1 decision to Northshire on Sunday in the Tier IV championship affair.

Northshire took a 3-0 lead through two periods to grab control of the contest. Silas Bohen struck for the Wasps’ tally in the third period.

Ethan Mello provided a solid effort in goal to keep the Wasps in the game throughout the afternoon.

Peewee Elite Reigns Again

Hooksett, n.h. — A 3-1 win over the Manchester Flames on Sunday at Tri-Town Arena brought the Hanover Peewee Elite its third successive New Hampshire Tier I state championship.

The Wild reached knockout play by going 2-1-0 in group action. Hanover beat Manchester, 5-1, and the New England Edge, 2-1, to go with a 2-1 loss to the N.H. Junior Monarchs. Spencer Lawe opened the scoring in the final against the Flames, converting a loose puck in front of the Manchester goal. Brothers Augie and Miles Oberting provided the remaining offense, with Augie scoring shorthanded and Miles converting a Lachlan Simmers pass.

Goaltenders Ben Plottner and Mica McGinley-Smith backstopped the title run behind the defense of Bridger Close, Jack Gardner, Cam Gwatkin, Kyle Smith, Oliver Huntington and Oliver Hamilton. Chase Porter, Tyler Gwatkin, Corwith Simmers, Zach Miles and Angus Frew joined the Obertings, Simmers and Lawe on the attack.

The Wild will play next in the New England Regionals in Waterbury, Vt., later this month.

Storm Peewees 2nd in N.H.

Laconia, n.h. — The Upper Valley Hockey Association Peewees reached the final of the New Hampshire Tier II state tournament last weekend, dropping a 2-0 decision to host Lakes Region to finish second in the tourney.

The Storm swept through group play, beating Oyster River on a Will McGee goal, 1-0, and blanking Lakes Region, 4-0. Ezra Mock, Joseph Barwood, Ozzy DeFelice and Aidan Boonyaharn scored in the latter win, with James McReynolds, Alex Mason and Boonyaharn and Barwood earning assists.

Upper Valley needed to come back from a goal down for a 2-1 overtime win over N.H. East in the semifinals to make the title game. Boonyaharn had another one-goal, one-assist effort, setting up DeFelice’s OT winner on a tip-in.

The runner-up tourney finish earned the Storm an invitation to the New England Regional tournament the weekend of March 17-19.

Wild, StormBantams Tune Up

White River Junction — The Hanover Bantam Greens edged Upper Valley I, 3-2, at Wendell A. Barwood Arena on Sunday in the final state tournament tuneup for both teams.

Jackson Balch netted an Andrew DeBois pass to put the Storm ahead, but Hanover’s Casey Graham equalized before the break. DeBois converted a Mason Adams pass for a 2-1 Storm lead entering the third period.

The Wild struck twice in the final stanza to take the game, with Curtis Rice hitting the twine both times, the latter with 23 seconds left. Jake Kriplin assisted on Rice’s first goal and Danny Drebber stopped 11 shots for Hanover. Storm netminder Hunter Robb recorded 22 saves.

Both teams head to state tournaments this weekend, with Hanover playing in the Tier II tourney in Laconia and the Storm going to the D-III draw in Wolfeboro.

In the Pool

UVAC 11th at Age Groups

Worcester, Mass. — Kristian Hansen scored the third-most points by a male swimmer and his younger brother, Erik, provided 40 on his own as the Upper Valley Aquatic Club took 11th place out of 51 teams at the New England Swimming 15-18 Age Group Championships at Worcester Polytechnic Institute last weekend.

Kristian Hansen, 17, of Hanover, produced 135 of the 259 points accumulated by UVAC athletes. Hansen won the 1,000 freestyle (9 minutes, 23.87 seconds), claimed second the 1,650 free (15:43.51) and was third in the 200 free (1:44.31) and 500 free (4:36.73).

Erik Hansen, 15, also of Hanover, placed sixth in the 1,650 free (16:20.27) for his best result. He also took ninth in the 1,000 free (9:50.53).

Other individual contributors, with points accumulated and top results:

Catherine Gavell, 17, Lebanon: 32 points, fifth in 50 free (24.01).

Kristin Burlew, 17, Springfield, Vt.: 8 points, 13th in 1,650 free (18:10.63).

Clare Brown, 16, Grantham: 6 points, 17th in 1,000 free (10:43.39).

UVAC relay teams also netted 38 points in four events, with Kayla Davis, Norina Manetsch, Hannah Budner, Abby LeBlanc and Madeline Hiller joining in the efforts. Hanover’s Atticus Kangas (200 backstroke) and Hiller (200 breaststroke) qualified for the New England senior championships with their performances at the age-group meet.

UVAC will compete this weekend in the 11-14 age-group championship meet at Boston University.

On the Snow

FSSC at BKL Finale

Bethel, Maine — Sarah Glueck, Lucille Dent and Elsa Bolinger posted top-10 results for the Ford Sayre Ski Council last weekend curking the Bill Koch Festival, the culminating event of the youth Nordic ski season.

Sunday’s individual racing saw Glueck place fifth in the girls grades 5-6 division for Ford Sayre’s top finish of the weekend. Ann Rightmire (11th) and Meg Frost (13th) were close behind for FSSC.

Dent was eighth in the girls 1-2 division, with teammate Charlotte Hourdequin taking 15th. Bolinger was eighth in the girls 7-8 class, with FSSC’s Eloise Silver-Van Meter in 12th.

Donovan Van Citters (11th, grades 1-2 boys) and Sam Murray (13th, grades 7-8 boys) made it into the top 15 in their Sunday races. Jack Lange (17th) and Daniel Frost (20th) followed Murray into the top 20 of the 7-8 boys race.

Oona Gleeson took 18th for Ford Sayre’s top result in the girls 3-4 competition.

Racers also engaged in two-person relays on Saturday, competing against skiers from Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and New York.

A. Glueck an All-American

Lake Placid, n.y. — Competing for Team New England, Hanover’s Adam Glueck earned all-American honors with his results at this week’s Junior Nationals in the Adirondacks.

Glueck earned his distinction in the individual-start 10-kilometer freestyle, posting a time of 26 minutes, 5.2 seconds to place eighth in the boys U18 classification. Glueck was second among New England competitors, behind third-place Stratton Mountain School competitor Ben Ogden (25:17.9).

Alaska Winter Sports’ Gus Schumacher won the race in 25:07.3.

CSC’s Couture WinsSpring Series GS

Newbury, n.h. — Ford Sayre alumna and current Colby-Sawyer College skier Courtney Couture buzzed the field for a one-second win in Sunday’s LaFoley Spring Series giant slalom at Mount Sunapee.

A freshman from Lyme, Couture posted a two-run time of 1 minutes, 56.28 seconds for the victory. Ford Sayre Academy’s Eva Schiffman, Lainie Taylor, Caitlin Blinkhorn and Maya Holmes combining for a 3-4-5-10 finish behind Couture. Pepper Joseph (15th) and Sophia Kocher (20th) also cracked the top 20 for FSA.

Hanover Center’s Oliver Morgan, another ex-Ford Sayre competitor representing Burke Mountain Academy, had the best area result in the boys GS, taking fourth place. FSA’s Ethan Ross was 13th.

Hendricks to Championships

Conway, n.h. — Ford Sayre’s Dylan Hendricks earned a place at the upcoming New Hampshire Alpine Racing Association U14 Championships at Mount Sunapee by virtue of his finishes in last weekend’s U12/U14 Finals at Cranmore Mountain.

The meet gave five more racers from around the Granite State a chance to reach the championships this weekend. Hendricks made the most of the opportunity by taking second in the slalom and sixth in the giant slalom at Cranmore.

Ford Sayre’s Magnus Holubar narrowly missed out on making the U12 boys finals, taking fourth in the GS and 11th in the slalom. Two other boys notched single top-10s, Sam Loescher in the U13 slalom (ninth) and Theo Joseph in the U14 slalom (10th).

Ford Sayre produced three top-15 skiers among the girls. Lilly Clapp took 11th in the slalom and 12th in the GS to lead the way. Ingrid Pekala was 12th in the slalom and 16th in the giant slalom, and teammate Tibby Pepper took 15th in the slalom for her division.

On Two Wheels

Rhim Wins Pro Stage

Clermont, Ga. — Norwich’s Brendan Rhim won the first stage race of his pro cycling career last weekend, taking the three-day Tour of the Southern Highlands in Georgia.

Rhim secured the tour title in Sunday’s 90-mile circuit race, going from fifth in the standings to the top of the heap on the strength of a runner-up result of 3 hours, 47 minutes, 11 seconds. Mac Brennan, Rhim’s teammate on the UCI Continental division Holowesko Citadel team, won the circuit race in 3:46:44.

Rhim’s cumulative time of 6:37:42 for the three stages was three seconds ahead of Brennan for the overall tour title, with Holowesko team captain Oscar Clark in third, 1:58 back.

On the Run

Shamrock 5K on Tap

Lebanon — The unofficial start of the Upper Valley’s running season is just weeks away in the form of the Shamrock Shuffle 5K in downtown Lebanon.

The 5-kilometer road race and one-mile fun run are set for March 18, beginning and ending at Colburn Park. The fun run, which is free, starts at 11 a.m, with the 5K following at noon.

Online registration is available at a discount at www.shamrock5k.com through March 11. The cost, which includes a long-sleeve T-shirt, is $22.50 for ages 18 and older, $17.50 for ages 13-17 and $12.50 for ages 12 and younger. Registration increases by $5.50 for each age group after that date up to the day of the race.

Bananas, bagels and sports drinks will be available pre-race for all competitors, while a post-race St. Patrick’s Day party is set for afterward at Salt hill Pub. The race is also the first of the season for the eight-event Upper Valley Running Series.

For more information, visit the race website or call Lebanon Parks and Recreation at 603-448-5121.