Brandon Goud and Grant Hefler are pretty tough competitors when they take to the playing field for Wiscasset Middle High School. This spring, they’ll compete against hundreds of other students for a $5,000 sportsmanship scholarship from the HP Hood dairy company.

Best friends since grammar school, Goud and Hefler will be encouraging their classmates, family and friends to cast votes on their behalf. Voting for the Hood Milk Sportsmanship Scholarship began on Monday at https://hood.com/scholarship and continues until 3 p.m. April 10.

Goud and Hefler are pulling for each other and the rules allow participants to vote for both of them once every day. Both have excelled in the classroom, on the playing field and basketball court.

After graduation, Hefler plans to attend Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. At WMHS, he’s participated in baseball, soccer, basketball, wrestling and golf. He’s lettered in every sport and received a number of coaching awards. Last fall, he played soccer for the Wolverines and golfed as an independent player with the Morse High School Shipbuilders in Bath. In his junior year, Hefler hit a 325-yard hole-in-one in his first match at Bath Country Club.

“When I play, I play to win but I understand that when the game is over the people I play against are my friends and people who I can relate to,” Hefler wrote in his Hood essay.

Hefler is the son of Gregg Wood and Karen Hefler of Northwood Court, Wiscasset.

Goud plans to attend Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. He, too, is a dual athlete competing on both the Wolverine varsity soccer and cross-country teams. He’s also lettered in basketball, swimming and track and has competed in six different events on the track team including the high jump and 3200-meter race. He’s excelled in both the mile and 1600-meter races and is hoping to set new school records in both events later this spring. Last fall, Goud was named to the Mountain Valley Conference first cross-country team and finished seventh in the Class C Southern Regional race and fifth overall in the Class C State meet.

“Typically, athletes from neighboring towns and rival schools do not befriend one another, especially during the season, but I look at every meet and game as an opportunity to make new friends,” Goud wrote in his Hood essay.

Goud’s parents are Duane and Tricia Goud of Gardiner Road, Wiscasset.

Margaret Scally of the WMHS guidance department said past WMHS winners have included Maeve Carlson in 2015 and Brandon’s sister Brianna Goud in 2014. Scally added, for Hefler and Brandon Goud to have a chance of winning a Hood award, the community has to get behind the effort and keep voting.

You can vote online once a day per student; you must be a U.S. citizen over the age of 13 and have a valid email address. Those voting must register on the site.

Voting only takes a few minutes; the site includes pictures of Hefler and Goud along with their essays describing how they embody sportsmanship and integrity both on and off the playing field.  After voting, you’ll receive a reply from Hood with a link to confirm and complete your vote.

Hood annually awards 18 sportsmanship scholarships to boy and girl student athletes planning to further their education. The scholarship requires participants to maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA and to have participated in a varsity sport, displayed a high degree of sportsmanship; and volunteered in the community. The 10 students from Maine who receive the most votes will be interviewed by a panel of judges along with finalists from Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut.

In May, three students from each state will be announced as winners.