The time has come to do our annual accounting of the year that was in Vermont sports.

Just what caught our eye when we looked back at 2023?

From a University of Vermont basketball championship sweep on home court to emotional and impressive high school championship teams, boiling down a year’s worth of highlights is never an easy proposition, but here are our top stories from the past 12 months, in chronological order…

Becker leapfrogs Brennan as UVM’s all-time wins leader

Arriving in Burlington in 2006 as the director of basketball operations, John Becker took over the UVM men’s basketball team in 2011 and has marched the Catamounts to steady stream of March memories: Eight America East regular-season titles and five appearances in the NCAA Tournament. In January, the night belonged to Becker, who eclipsed former UVM coach and living legend Tom Brennan for most career wins in program history following a 74-64 victory over Bryant at Patrick Gym.

Becker is 289-118 overall and 162-30 in America East over 12-plus seasons at UVM.

‘He’s the GOAT’: Becker eclipses Brennan as Vermont silences Bryant in AE tilt

Feature: John Becker’s biggest wins of record tenure with UVM men’s basketball

Women coaches end drought in D-I girls basketball championship game

In early March, two women head coaches squared off in the Division I high school girls basketball championship game for the first time since 1990.

The leaders who ended that 33-year title drought are well-known: Ute Otley enter the final with five titles and nine championship appearances in 12 seasons at Champlain Valley; St. Johnsbury’s Jade Huntington is Vermont’s all-time leading scorer from her days at Oxbow in the 1980s.

In the 2023 final, Otley’s Redhawks pulled away in the third quarter for the program’s first outright championship since 2017.

Feature: Women coaches to meet in D-I girls basketball final for first time since 1990

Championship story: CVU girls basketball tops St. Johnsbury to end title drought

Vermont basketball teams sweep America East titles on home court

The University of Vermont women had a 13-year detour from title contention. But that changed in 2023 as the Catamounts romped through conference play with a 17-game win streak that concluded with the America East championship win against Albany.

UVM dispatched the Great Danes 38-36 to seize the conference championship in front of 2,502 at Patrick Gym in March.

The women’s triumph began the sweep as the men hosted UMass Lowell the following day. Vermont, the conference defending champions, stomped the River Hawks 72-59 to capture the America East title in front of 2,880 fans.

Championship story: UVM women’s basketball seals first America East championship since 2010

Championship story: Vermont men’s basketball pulls away for America East championship repeat

CVU boys claim first title in 100th D-I state final

Champlain Valley was the state’s top team for most, if not all, of the 2022-23 season. But they entered the 100^th Division I boys basketball tournament having never won March’s last game.

Their opponent?  

Second-seeded Rice, who was seeking a four-peat.

The Redhawks, behind heady play from their veterans, rallied in the third quarter to steal championship bragging rights from the Green Knights 42-38 at the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gym and brought home the first championship in program history.

The Redhawk girls also won the D-I tournament to cap a sweep for the Hinesburg school.

‘We had to prove it’: Top-seeded CVU claims first boys basketball title

New record set at Vermont City Marathon on blistering day

Maegan Krifchin’s blistering pace at the 2023 VCM was only matched by the spring heat. The temperatures soared throughout the day, but Krifchin’s official time of 2 hours, 33 minutes and 40 seconds bested Heidi Westerling’s 2009 race-record by nearly two minutes.

Krifchin gained on the record in the last six miles after passing Main Street for the second time.

Coverage: Course record shattered at the 2023 Vermont City Marathon & Relay

Bryson Richards tracks down VT Amateur on home course

On his home course at Country Club of Barre, Bryson Richards tracked down his second Vermont Amateur title in three years with a memorable closing performance.

After wiggling out of trouble with a tricky par-save to start the back nine, Richards drained three consecutive birdies to seal the 117th running of the statewide golf tournament. The University of Rhode Island standout posted 21 birdies and one eagle over 54 holes, finishing at 9-under for a five-stroke victory.

‘This is my home’: Richards rides par save, birdies to grab 117th Vermont Amateur at Barre

UVM fires men’s hockey coach Woodcroft following investigation

Former University of Vermont men’s hockey coach, Todd Woodcroft was fired in July following an investigation by UVM’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity that found “inappropriate text messages with a UVM student on multiple occasions that failed to maintain professional boundaries.”

Woodcroft was 20-55-9 across three seasons in Burlington. Assistant coach Steve Wiedler was named interim head coach for the 2023-24 season.

News: Todd Woodcroft fired as head coach of UVM men’s hockey after investigation

CVU girls XC squad races to perfect at state meet

Propelled by a pair of table-setters and a well-versed pack style approach, the CVU girls cross-country running team breezed through Vermont and regional competition this fall in one of the program’s best single-season performances.

Behind star runners Alice Kredell, the Vermont Division I individual champion, and Estella Laird, the Redhawks captured the state meet with a perfect score — finishing 1-2-3-4-5 — and won the New England crown for the seventh time, all since 2003.

Joining Kredell and Laird on CVU’s roster were: Audrey Neilson, Lydia Donahue, Charlotte Crum, Annalise Wood and Noe Jenni. CVU also finished the year ranked nationally in the DyeStat/RunnerSpace.com poll.

Perfect score! CVU girls fly to 19th XC running title in 21 years in dominant fashion

Profile: ‘The higher the stakes, the faster they run’: CVU girls XC team chasing big goals

Colchester girls soccer ends 30-year title drought

Emotions were high for the Colchester High School girls soccer team in 2023: Its longtime coach, Jeff Paul, lost his father, and a program supporter also died before the start of the fall campaign. The Lakers also had to contend with pressure and expectations, following three straight heartbreaking semifinal exits to extend their title drought to 30 years.

But Colchester overcame all of it with 17-2 record culminating in a 2-0 victory over Essex in the Division I championship tilt. Colchester wasted no time seizing control in the final, knocking in both goals by the game’s seventh minute.

Game story: After emotional year, Colchester girls soccer soars to first D-I title in 30 years

UVM men’s soccer goes on another NCAA Tournament run

The University of Vermont men’s soccer team has a knack for making November exciting. A year after reaching the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, the Catamounts made the Round of 16 before falling to No. 5 West Virginia 2-1 in Morgantown.

Vermont knocked off Rider at Virtue Field in the first round and then upset No. 12 Central Florida 3-2 on the road. This was the third straight year Vermont won at least 13 games.

Round of 16: West Virginia’s late winner sinks Vermont men’s soccer at NCAA Tournament

Other noteworthy stories of 2023

► UVM women’s hockey falls in semifinals by ‘fractions of an inch’: An extended officials’ video review in the final minute showed Vermont had missed the game-tying goal by ‘fractions of an inch.’ Instead of overtime, Vermont fell in the Hockey East semifinals for the second straight year following a record-tying 22-win winter.

► Spaulding girls hockey wins school’s first D-I crown since 2010: Behind Free Press’ Miss Hockey Rebecca McKelvey, the Crimson Tide went 21-0-1 for the program’s first Division I title and the school’s first D-I crown in any sport since 2010. In the final, Spaulding skated to a decisive, 4-1 victory over Burlington/Colchester.

► U-32 boys hockey stuns MMU for D-II title: The Raiders never led until Brenden Tedeschi’s short-handed, sudden-death goal 8:19 into double overtime to top Mount Mansfield 4-3 at Gutterson Fieldhouse in March. With two seconds left in regulation, Tae Rossmassler knotted the contest with goal off a MMU pad save. The championship was the longest Division II title game in the history of the tournament.

► CVU baseball caps school-year dominance: The Redhawks won a lot in the 2022-23 school year. … The football and basketball teams swept D-I tournaments for their breakthrough championships. And then baseball captured its third title in the last four seasons. With baseball’s triumph, CVU became just the second school to win all three D-I tournaments.

► Yates seals BFA’s perfect season with no-hit masterpiece: Sierra Yates was untouchable in the Division I softball championship game: The senior ace hurled a no-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts in the Comets’ 10-0 triumph to polish off an 18-0 record. It was also BFA’s 10th title overall.

► Vermonters pull off impressive, rare feat at New England track meet: For just third time in the 76-year history of the New England outdoor track and field championships, three Vermont boys placed in the same event. Essex’s Kelton Poirier captured the 800-meter run, to headline the 1-2-4 Green Mountain State finish, alongside runner-up Andrew Thornton of St. Johnsbury and Matthew Servin of CVU.

► St. Johnsbury rallies to first Little League baseball state title since 1985: It took St. Johnsbury Little League nine innings on a summer day in July, but that didn’t matter to the 10-to-12-year-old all-stars. Maddox Stacey delivered the go-ahead, three-run home run to seize the program’s first baseball title since 1985. Stacey then began the double play in bottom-half of the frame to seal St. Johnsbury’s celebration on Schifilliti Field.

► Berger leads Team USA: Champlain Valley’s Elise Berger went four innings, allowing just one hit in a 2-0 win against Mexico for Team USA women’s baseball in August. The triumph, the right-handed hurler’s second of the tournament, concluded Group A qualifying play for the United States (5-0) in the Women’s Baseball World Cup. Berger recently committed to Bard College to play baseball.  

► Colchester’s Lefebvre returns to coaching ranks amid cancer battle: Only weeks after accepting the open position with Colchester field hockey and a return to coaching after a decade hiatus, Shawn Lefebvre learned she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The 1999 South Burlington High School graduate faced multiple rounds of chemotherapy and balanced family life and teaching responsibilities — all while leading the Lakers to the Division I semifinals and the program’s first winning season since 2018.

► Memorable day for three teams at football title-game tripleheader at Rutland: Rutland’s annual high school football championship tripleheader provided spectators with another year of fireworks. Burr and Burton held off Hartford’s furious comeback to capture the D-I crown. North Country secured a defensive stop with 41 seconds left for a championship banner, their first since 1997. And Windsor continued its dominance with a third straight championship.

► Middlebury College races to sixth straight NCAA field hockey championship: Middlebury field hockey is no stranger to championships. The Panthers (22-0) capped another undefeated season with a 2-0 championship-win over Johns Hopkins in November. The title was Middlebury’s sixth in a row. Audrey Lazar scored both goals.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau.