TRUCKEE, Calif.—Eleven different champions were crowned this past weekend at the eighth Lake Tahoe Summit Classic, a youth and scholastic-age tournament co-hosted by Summit Lacrosse Ventures and ADVNC Lacrosse out of the San Francisco Bay Area, and the second stop on the 2022 Find Your Summit (#FNDURSMT) Tour.  The Lake Tahoe Summit Classic is supported by North Lake Tahoe Resort Association and Visit Truckee Tahoe.

Established in 2014, this year’s Tahoe Summit Classic was the first to be held in the tournament’s original location since 2019 as the event drew more than 90 teams to the shores of breathtaking North Lake Tahoe for two days of competition on June 18 and 19. 

“Lake Tahoe is an amazing destination for the many lacrosse teams and their families who’ve made this tournament an awesome tradition every year,” said Summit Lacrosse Ventures CEO and President Ashley Gersuk Murphy, who was on site for the action-packed weekend. 

After needing to cancel the event in 2020 and then last summer hosting it in Carson City, Nevada, the Summit Lacrosse Ventures staff was thrilled to welcome teams last weekend from as far away as Idaho, Texas and Arizona in the event’s initial setting, with the magnificent, bright blue waters of North Lake Tahoe just a short drive from the playing fields. 

“The cheerful and supportive atmosphere on the sidelines and the competition across all divisions speaks not just to the growth of lacrosse on the West Coast, but also the passion for the game and a hunger to play it as much as possible,” said Murphy, one of the all-time leading goaltenders in Northwestern University’s storied history and a member of the Wildcats’ first NCAA championship team. 

“These teams, players and their families realize it’s a special opportunity to play this game in such a beautiful place against great competition. We’re thrilled to be back in Tahoe working with so many good people at terrific facilities and with Big Blue and countless other nearby attractions for attendees to enjoy.” 

The Tahoe National Forest and the Sierra Nevada and Carson mountain ranges cast picturesque backdrops as action across eight boys divisions and three girls divisions got underway Saturday morning at three different facilities in the North Lake Tahoe region: Truckee High School and Riverview Sports Park in Truckee, and North Tahoe High School in Tahoe City. 

The second tournament on the Summit Lacrosse Ventures 2022 #FNDURSMT Tour sponsored by Gait Lacrosse, the event drew vendors and food trucks from throughout California and Nevada and weather was at its best come championship time on Sunday, with bright sunshine, only a few clouds and colorful jets and prop planes buzzing overhead, decorating the sky as they took off from Truckee Tahoe Airport. 

Chris Rotelli, Director of ADVNC Lacrosse, said that the return of the Summit Classic to the North Lake Tahoe area reestablishes it as an important event for the many young players from all parts of the western United States. 

“The Lake Tahoe Summit Classic is absolutely a huge weekend for ADVNC Lacrosse and our many players and families, but also for so many other programs from the West Coast, and that’s why we wanted to establish the tournament in the first place,” said Rotelli, who starred at the University of Virginia and won the Tewaaraton Award in 2003 as the nation’s most outstanding college lacrosse player. 

Despite the positive vibes of the event, Rotelli along with the entirety of the ADVNC Lacrosse and Summit Lacrosse Ventures staffs entered the weekend mourning the recent loss of Todd “TK” Kelly, one of the driving forces behind the Lake Tahoe Summit Classic and a key part of its organization and execution each year. 

Tragically and unexpectedly, TK passed away on June 14, just days before the event. He was 52 years old. 

At a staff dinner on Friday night in Truckee leading up to the event, Rotelli and members of both the ADVNC Lacrosse and Summit Lacrosse Ventures staffs paid tribute to the late Kelly and made the promise to dedicate the Lake Tahoe Summit Classic to him every year moving forward. 

“TK was such a great person and friend to us all,” Rotelli said. 

“He’s been a part of the tournament every year since it started eight years ago. In that time, he became close friends with all of us and was always looking to help in every way he could. It’s hard to imagine putting on this tournament every year without him by our side. But his spirit will always be here with us and will shine brightly at all future Lake Tahoe Summit Classics.”