A PIO (Princeton and Denver) Cubs player makes a move past a Baby Bulls player during a girls 2024-2027 Northstar (10v10) game on July 29 at the Lake Placid Summit Classic Scholastic Division lacrosse tournament. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — Some of the best high school lacrosse players across the country, descended on this village for the annual Lake Placid Summit Classic lacrosse tournament, which started on Monday, July 29.

The Summit Classic essentially folds two tournaments into one big event. It started with the scholastic side first — which consists of youth, high school and soon-to-be college-level athletes — and followed with the adult group. The event will run until Sunday, Aug. 4.

The scholastic tournament features 95 total teams across of nine different divisions — five boys and four girls, according to Lake Placid Summit Classic Event Director Kevin Leveille.

“This year we have 60 girls teams and 35 boys teams (in the scholastic tournament),” he said. “So the girls have really ramped up versus the boys teams.”

Most of the girls are in the top division — the Northstars — which is made up of NCAA Division I committed lacrosse players from across the country, representing their future university, before officially playing for their collegiate team. It’s the first time some of these players will get the chance to play with each other.

“What has been happening is that the team that wins here, three to four years down the line becomes one of the teams in the final four in the NCAA (tournament),” Leveille said. “It’s a little bit of a fortuitous situation, which is cool.”

Some of the universities competing include Boston College, Cornell, Colorado, Dartmouth, Denver, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Louisville, Massachussetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn State, Princeton, Rutgers, Southern California, Stanford, Stony Brook, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Vermont, Virginia and Yale.

On the boys’ side of the scholastic tournament, there is a similar division called the Summit Division, which features some of the best boys high school teams. However, the Scholastic Division isn’t necessarily tied to one school.

“Those games are ultra competitive, with all the best players from all over,” Leveille said.

Earlier this month, the Summit Lacrosse Society hosted the Lake Placid Summit Youth Classic lacrosse tournament, but Leveille said this tournament is more competitive.

“The other youth event is mostly middle school aged now,” he said. “This one is high school and the talent level is really good. We only had so many spots with our capacity, the demand is high so we get really elite level players.”

The adult tournament, which started on July 31, will have 117 teams across 16 divisions — 12 men’s and four women’s. For the most part, it’s the same number of team as year’s past.

“We had some 50 and 55 year old men’s teams that couldn’t do it,” Leveille said. “But we have three or four more women’s teams, I think in the 35-plus (division), which we never really have.”

During the Summit Classic’s adult tournament, the organization inducted five individuals and one team into the Legends of Placid Lax (a Hall of Fame group) on Aug. 1 at the North Elba Horse Show Grounds Pavilion. The ceremony will highlight this year’s inductees are Mick Dyer, Mickey Blanchfield, Elizabeth Beville, Pat Lally, Tera Larson and Brown State.

The Legends of Placid Lax event kicked off with a 70s-plus game on Aug. 1, with the ceremony after.