The Hood Sportsmanship Scholarships awarded by Lynnfield, Mass.-based HP Hood is now in its third year of recognizing high school seniors in New England.

“Hood Milk has helped kids in New England grow to be healthy and strong for more than 160 years,” said Lynne Bohan, vice president of public relations. “Now that they’re all grown up, we want to help honor their good sportsmanship and integrity on and off the field, and send them off to college.”

This year, the company will award 18 $5,000 scholarships to high school seniors. Three scholarships in each of the six New England states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont — will be awarded for a total of $90,000.

To participate, students must attend a two- or four-year accredited college or university in the fall of 2012, have a minimum grade point average of 3.0, participate in a varsity sport, volunteer in the community and display a “high degree of sportsmanship while participating in high school sports.”

Information about the scholarship program was included on containers of Hood Milk’s LightBlock Bottle, distributed to school guidance offices and available on the company’s Facebook page.

Students entered online at Hood.com. They wrote a short essay explaining how they display sportsmanship on and off the field. Online voting (the public is invited to vote once a day per student) will be held Feb. 15-March 15 to determine 10 finalists from each state. A panel of judges will interview the finalists and select the 18 winners.

Bohan said the judging panels are made up of professional, community and interscholastic leaders in each of the six states. Winners are notified in May and invited to an awards banquet.