A lacrosse trip to remember for Palo Verde’s Campo

It was a trip of closure and celebration for Gary Campo, another way to honor a young man taken from the world far too soon while discovering happiness in how far his most cherished sport has come.

Campo had hoped Johns Hopkins could reach another national final in lacrosse, that the school Jeremy Huber had realized his dream of attending could win a 10th NCAA title.

That part of the story would end differently.

Lacrosse always has been viewed more East Coast than winter coats and blue crab and prep school uniforms, which made the sport’s Final Four over Memorial Day weekend all the more historical.

The University of Denver, seven miles south of downtown and the oldest private college in the Rocky Mountain Region, became the first program west of the Appalachians to win the men’s title Monday when it easily dismissed Maryland 10-5 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Bill Tierney is the Mike Krzyzewski of college lacrosse coaching, and when he and his six national titles left Princeton for the snow banks of Colorado, more than a few eyes across the sport of scooping and slap checks raised with astonishment.

Now, six years later, Tierney is the first man to win the NCAA championship at two Division I schools.

“It was great being there and seeing it happen,” Campo said. “More and more, Western lacrosse has grown and offered young kids another option to football and baseball and other sports. Lacrosse is still a very small community in Las Vegas, but more kids go on to play in college every year. That also opens eyes.”

Campo is a championship coach in his own right, having just won his sixth state title at Palo Verde High. He also won six at Bonanza.

He was there to support lacrosse in Philadelphia, but more so the Huber family, which also made the trip. Jeremy, who played for Campo at Palo Verde and on the Vegas Starz travel team, was found dead in his dorm at Johns Hopkins on Jan. 26.

The freshman defenseman was 18 and died of pneumonia complicating influenza A, a medical examiner found.

Johns Hopkins lost to Maryland 12-11 in one national semifinal, and when the Blue Jays returned on their team bus to an area where friends and family had gathered, a sense of relief spread across the faces of players, among them former Coronado star Kieran Eissler.

It had been an agonizing season played under the dark and fatal cloud of mourning a teammate who had died.

Campo and his Palo Verde side, which includes Jeremy’s younger brother, Justin, knew the feeling well.

“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” Campo said. “Our season had a lot of ups and downs. We had five senior captains, all of whom had played with Jeremy. They never really spoke about it, but as we went through the season, it was obvious they were playing to honor him.

“Once the playoffs came around, it was if they were being pushed by his spirit. We even practiced on the day of the state championship, as if to say, ‘Let’s just finish this. Let’s finish the mission.’ And when we did, we pointed to the sky. I’ve never had a tougher season, but also have never been part of something so special in how our kids responded to such a tragedy.”

There was a sense of closure as the Johns Hopkins players descended the steps of their bus Saturday. Campo felt it. The journey had been brutal on everyone.

But two days later, celebration would arrive in the reality of a Western team winning its first national title by taking down an Eastern power.

Denver’s roster is littered with players from the West, including a former Faith Lutheran standout in freshman Grant Gravitt. There are players from California and Washington and, of course, Colorado.

Campo realizes what such a victory might mean for all levels of the sport out West, that while coaches across the country have long understood and respected the growing amount of talent this part of the national map has, lacrosse fans haven’t accepted that the sport is played at a high level in places other than the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

There still aren’t enough qualified coaches in Las Vegas, but some of those who departed to play college lacrosse in the past decade are just now returning to aid in that way. They’re giving back, but it’s also a sport still fighting the battle to get onto more elementary and middle school fields.

Progress is steady but at times incredibly slow.

“We will still take trips to the East Coast and are asked, ‘They play lacrosse in Las Vegas?’ ” Campo said. “But maybe by Denver winning it all, other Division I universities out West that have talked about starting programs will now do so.

“It was such a memorable weekend, being there to help support Jeremy’s family through what had to be some very difficult moments and then knowing history was being made at the same time.”

A trip of closure.

And celebration.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on KRLV 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.