GUILDERLAND — They took different paths to reach the thing they both love the most.

And now it has taken them to high levels of success.

When Guilderland’s Bob McIver and Mike Camardo first touched lacrosse sticks, they fell in love with the sport and now the sport has given back to them. Both were named high-school All-Americans by U.S. Lacrosse and both will be moving on to play at Division I colleges next year.
"The first time I held a stick in my hand," Camardo said, "I couldn’t put it down."
"You get to hit someone with a stick," McIver said. "Kids love it because its so fast."

And now Camardo and McIver are awarded for doing what they love.
"It’s a good way to end a good year and career at Guilderland," said McIver. "It’s kind of cool to get some recognition."
"This is pretty much the best recognition you can get in high school," Camardo added. "It’s really exciting. It’s incredible. It’s what every kid that plays lacrosse strives for."

The pair were honored at the U.S. Lacrosse Adirondack Chapter banquet last Thursday.

Camardo earned the All-American status for his play as a midfielder for the Dutchmen this season against Section II competition. McIver was named one of two Academic All-Americans in the area.
"Great kids"
"They both are great kids," said Guilderland Coach Sean McConaghy. "And it’s not anything to do with lacrosse. They are great kids. They are very coachable and are very hard working. They take a lot of pride in everything they do and it has surely paid off for them. They put in the work and the benefits have been great for them."

Camardo is the first Guilderland All-Amercian since Bryan Adams was named in 2002 and McIver is the first Academic All-American since Evan O’Donnell in 2004.
"I remember watching Bryan Adams," Camardo said. "We were in the eighth grade and he was just amazing. I was always looking up to him."

Camardo, who missed a handful of games due to an injury during the season, was surprised that he was given the award.
"I had no clue," Camardo said. "I was very excited, especially since I missed a lot of the season."

McIver was equally as surprised.
"It always is when you get that kind of recognition," he said. "You look at the kids who got it before — Evan O’Donnell and [Niskayuna’s] Nick Sapia. They were remarkable student athletes. To have my name on the list with those players is quite an accomplishment."

McIver and Camardo were shocked to just be named with the top kids in Section II this year. Niskayuna goalie Noah Fossner and defensemen Dan Halyako were honored, too, as well as Greenwich’s Trever Sipperly. Josh Sweeney of Christian Brothers Academy also earned the academic honor.
"You knew that the Nisky kids were penciled in before the year," McIver said.

The next level

McIver and Camardo will now take their lacrosse prowess to college and will play at a high level. McIver will play at Binghamton University and Camardo at the University of Mayland-Baltimore County.
"I didn’t think about playing in college until I made Empires [State Games] after my sophomore year," said Camardo. "Before, I was just playing for fun."
"Making Empires, a lot of doors opened for me," McIver added. "There were a lot of coaches there."
"When I started to get letters from D-I colleges," Camardo said. "I decided to go for it."

Though they will be leaving Guilderland, and looking forward to moving on to college, they have fond memories of their alma mater, especially lacrosse.
"We made the finals two years in a row," Camardo said of playing in the Section II title game. "It’s getting really big."
"It was great playing for coaches like Coach McConaghy and Assistant Coaches Bremmer and May," McIver said. "They improved each individual player and you’ll see more and more college players coming out of Guilderland."

They also feel they are adding to the legacy of Guilderland lacrosse.
"It’s great to have an award in the trophy case with Cort Kim and Bryan Adams," McIver said. "It’s nice to leave a piece like that behind."

The one thing that hurts is the 9-2 loss the Dutch suffered to Niskayuna in the Class A Section II title game on June 1 to end their high school careers.
"It hurt," McIver said. "I felt like we ran out of gas. The whole game they had more depth. They had guys that had roles on just offense and defense. They were able to divide Mike’s job into four people. They had a larger group of better athletes."

Camardo played all over the field during the season, playing mostly midfield on offense and defense, but would also play defense on man-down situations after the team had a penalty.

Together

Camardo and McIver met as students at Altamont Elementary School and they played basketball for a recreation league.

They grew up together — along with most of the seniors on the team — which led to the success of the high school team.

But they had different ways of starting their love affair with lacrosse.

McIver first picked up a lacrosse stick when he was in kindergarten. Camardo didn’t start playing until the sixth grade.
"My dad liked it," McIver said. "He didn’t play until after he got out of college. He entered me into a winter league and I really liked it. I worked really hard at it to get to where I am now."

McIver also had a practice partner at home. His brother, Doug, played the sport and was an outstanding goalkeeper at Albany Academy and is now playing at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, the Division II national champions.
"He is great to go to games with," Bob McIver said. "And it’s great to have someone to throw with. We play at games and tournaments, but it doesn’t stop when you go home."

But the home practices have their own little twist.
"He shoots at me a lot," McIver said. "He says he gets sick of people shooting on him at practice so he takes it out on me. But I’ve put my little brother into the net."

McIver did have some influence in getting Camardo to play lacrosse.
"I played in the town league," Camardo said. "And I talked to Bob and Colin Brunk and they wanted me to play. Me and Colin were always hanging out. I picked up a stick and stayed with it. My dad didn’t know what lacrosse was."

A natural athlete — Camardo also played soccer at Guilderland — Camardo took to the sport quickly and with hard work became really good.

Camardo made the team as a freshman and McIver was on the varsity team as a sophomore.

McIver finished this season with 90 points and finished fourth in Section II. Camardo finished the season with 44 points but scooped up an amazing 88 ground balls. Both are in the top 10 for all-time point leaders at Guilderland.
"It’s a great honor for both of them to have," McConaghy said. "Both are going to play in college — Mike at UMBC where there will be 20 All-Americans and Bob at Binghamton where it’s the same thing.
"They will represent Guilderland well"When people look at the All-American list and see two players from Guilderland, they see that we have great kids and great lacrosse players. And that’s nice to see."

Camardo and McIver said that they would come back and watch the Guilderland team next year.
"We want to wish luck to the upcoming players," said McIver. "There are some good players coming up and there’s a great coaching staff. I know they will do well."