The sports world is at a stand still these days, and no area has been more hit than high school.

The pandemic not only ended seasons and championship opportunity, for some, it ended careers. That’s why Mark Larson and Erik Columbia are looking to celebrate the high school game.

For the next few weeks these two will countdown the top ten programs, both boys and girls, in our area. We’re talking football, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, softball, cross country… you name it. But what is the criteria for this countdown?

First off, this isn’t an all-time countdown. Mark and Erik are only taking into account high school programs that have excelled from 2003 to the present. Why those super specific years? Well, that’s when Spectrum News was first established (then known as News 10 Now). It gives the countdown a little more firsthand experience, because Mark has been with the station since they signed on. Erik has been covering Section three and four sports since the fall of 2008. So, between them both they have it covered.

You might ask yourself, did I read section four sports? You sure did. Spectrum News’ coverage area is massive. That means these two countdowns could feature high school programs from Syracuse, Binghamton, Ithaca, Utica, Corning and/or Watertown. Each region seems to have niche sports where they seem to succeed more than other regions. It will be fun to see which programs have found a way to rise to the top.

Another thing to note, Mark and Erik won’t simply just list the programs that have won the most sectional or state championships. Obviously, hardware will weigh heavily in the countdown, but it’s not the end-all-be-all. Some of our best programs in the state have had great success locally, but haven’t had the best luck when it comes to the state tournament.

Star power could play a role. If your high school churns out college-caliber athletes then there’s a good chance they can make this countdown. It could even be used as the tiebreaker between two evenly matched programs.

Most of all, we want everyone to enjoy themselves will reading the countdown. Relive the memories these programs gave you, and athletes that made their communities proud. And of course, when you disagree take the discussion to Mark and Erik’s social media. (@MLarsonSports, @ErikCOnTV)