COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Hockey crowned its first national champions of 2016 today, as Wayzata High School (Wayzata, Minnesota) and J.W. Mitchell High School (New Port Richey, Florida) both won championship games in overtime to earn top honors at the Toyota-USA Hockey High School National Championships in Ashburn, Virginia.

In the Pure Division championship game, Wayzata out-dueled Edina in a finale that matched two schools from Minneapolis suburbs separated by just 14 miles. Edina held a 1-0 lead until Wayzata'sAndrew Oare (Wayzata, Minnesota) scored the equalizer with 11.2 seconds remaining in the third period. Oare struck again in overtime to win it for Wayzata.

J.W. Mitchell claimed the Combined Division championship, besting Boulder/Monarch from Colorado, 8-7, in overtime. Lucas Sowder (Trinity, Florida) of J.W. Mitchell scored three goals in the championship game and topped all players in the tournament with 32 points (22G, 10A) in six games.

The Pure Division is comprised of teams that draw their players from a single school, while the Combined Division is for teams made up of players from two or more schools.

In all, some 4,000 players will compete for American hockey top honors in the sled, youth, girls, high school, adult and women's levels at 10 host sites across the United States between now and late April. Up next, the youth, girls and women's A-B-C Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships begin March 31 (see listings below).

USA Hockey, in conjunction with FASTHockey, streams all the action online. Games are available live and on-demand by visiting USAHockey.FASTHockey.com, creating an account and purchasing a subscription. In addition, games will be available for purchase following the tournament by visitingUSAHockey.FASTHockey.com.

Also of note is the Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships app. Available for both Apple and Android devices, the app provides unprecedented access to news, scores and schedules, as well as photos and videos from fellow participants in the app social stream.

In addition to streaming and mobile coverage, USA Hockey will provide scoring, stats, standings and photos from each of the games on Nationals.USAHockey.com. Fans can follow all of the action from each tournament on Twitter (@USAHockey), Facebook (facebook.com/USAHockey) and Instagram (@usahockey).

For more information, contact Jayson Hron (jaysonh@usahockey.org / 719.538.1159)