RGVSports.com
The top high school performances by individual athletes, teams and coaches during the 2014-15 school year will be recognized at today’s eighth annual RGVSports.com and Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame awards ceremony at Marine Military Academy’s Yeckel Memorial Auditorium in Harlingen.
The event starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free, and the ceremony will also be streamed live on the websites for The Monitor, the Brownsville Herald and the Valley Morning Star.
Awards will be presented in 13 categories along with the Robert Vela Lifetime Achievement Award, which this year is going to longtime McAllen Memorial swimming coach Roxanne Balducci .
Highlighting the evening will be awards for the Valley’s top male and female athletes in Class 6A and sub-6A along with awards going to the top boys and girls teams in 6A and sub-6A.
For the 6A athlete of the year award, the boys finalists are McAllen Memorial’s Trevor Speights (football), Edinburg High’s John Gonzalez (football) and Rivera’s Isidro “ Chelin ” Martinez (soccer and football). The 6A girls finalists are Harlingen South’s Cierra Peña (track), San Benito’s Crystal Castillo (softball) and McAllen Rowe’s Mayda Garcia (volleyball and basketball).
Finalists for the athlete of the year award in the sub-6A boys category are Hidalgo ’s Frankie Sanchez (basketball), St. Joseph Academy’s Kai Money (football, basketball and track) and La Feria’s Carlos Rodriguez (cross country and track). For the sub-6A girls, the finalists are Lyford’s Thalia Polanco (cross country and track), Port Isabel’s Daniella Murchison (track) and Sharyland Pioneer’s Nora Monie (track, volleyball and basketball).
Finalists for the 6A boys team of the year award are Rivera in football and soccer along with McAllen High in basketball, and the 6A girls team of the year finalists are San Benito (softball), Los Fresnos (soccer) and McAllen High (volleyball).
The sub-6A boys team finalists are Hidalgo (baseball), Edinburg Vela (basketball) and Sharyland High (football). Finalists for the sub-6A girls teams are Lyford (softball), Mission Veterans (volleyball) and Edinburg Vela (basketball).
Top coaches for the 2014-15 school year also will be recognized, and there are three finalists for the boys and four for the girls with all school classifications considered.
Coach of the year finalists for the boys are Rivera’s Tom Chavez (football), Rivera’s Salvador Garcia (soccer) and Roma’s Max Habecker Jr. (football). For girls sports, coach of the year finalists are San Benito’s Elias Martinez (softball), Los Fresnos’ Becky Woods (volleyball), Los Fresnos’ Marissa Wood (soccer) and PSJA North’s Randy Bocanegra (basketball).
Finalists for 6A program of the year are McAllen Memorial, Rivera and Los Fresnos , and the finalists for the same award in the sub-6A category are Edinburg Vela, Sharyland High and Port Isabel.
Also to be presented is a moment of the year award for the 2014-15 school year in Valley high school sports.
Vying for the award are three unforgettable “moments,” which include Murchison winning the Class 4A shot put in May at the UIL state track & field meet, marking the first time a Valley athlete, boy or girl, has captured a gold medal at state three consecutive years.
Also, Rivera capped a 28-0 season by capturing the inaugural 6A championship in boys soccer with a 2-0 victory against Katy Cinco Ranch on April 18 at the UIL state tournament in Georgetown, and the San Benito football team trailed “Battle of the Arroyo” rival Harlingen High by 18 points with less than six minutes remaining before scoring 22 points to win 25-21 in District 32-6A competition Oct. 10, 2014, at Bobby Morrow Stadium.