BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
In track and field recruiting, UTRGV owns it backyard. The program has dozens of talented local athletes on its roster.
The Valley has shown that it can produce Division I talent on a regular basis, recently sending athletes to UTRGV, Texas, Arkansas, UT San Antonio, Mississippi State, Texas State, SMU and more. Many of those track and field athletes have excelled.
But recently, outside of UTRGV, no Division I program has recruited the Valley better than the University of Houston — a powerful and esteemed program that has won 33 men’s and women’s conference championships during former world record holder Leroy Burrell’s 17 years as head coach.
The Cougars currently have nine RGV athletes (two women, seven men) on their rosters, according to the school’s sports information publications: Nora Monie, Sharyland Pioneer; Malaya Pistokache, Sharyland Pioneer; Dalton Curtis, Sharyland Pioneer; Guillermo Galvan, Mission Veterans; Hayden Flores, Harlingen High; Jose Herrera, Brownsville Hanna; G.J. Reyna, Mission Veterans; Jose Rodriguez, PSJA Southwest; and Felipe Valencia, La Joya Palmview.
They all contribute to their teams’ efforts during the indoor and outdoor seasons. And some are major standouts. Monie, after improving during her sophomore season in 2017, won a pair of gold medals two weeks ago at the Texas Relays in the shot put and discus throws.
Valencia, a redshirt junior shot and discus thrower, went to the NCAA regionals last year and placed fourth in the shot at the Texas Relays in March. He also won last weekend’s Houston Alumni Invitational with a gold-medal throw of 59 feet, 2.75 inches.
Houston has a long history of producing great track teams and athletes, including the incomparable Olympian Carl Lewis. More recently, the men’s team won consecutive American Conference indoor and outdoor track titles in 2016 and 2017.
GONZALEZ IMPROVES IN NEW ROLE AT TEXAS TECH
Former Edinburg Bobcats ace John Henry Gonzalez is now a middle reliever for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. As a freshman in 2017, the 6-foot, 225-pounder started nine games and appeared in 13 altogether, but he scuffled some and ended the season with a 6.52 ERA and a 2-3 overall record.
This season, the right-hander has cut his ERA in half. He has pitched in six games for the 25-6 Red Raiders, but Gonzalez has been effective. He has a 3.27 ERA in 11 innings with 14 strikeouts and only three walks. In his last two games from the mound, he’s thrown four innings and allowed just two hits while fanning six batters and walking only one.
SOUTH’S GONZALEZ TOPS AT ST. MARY’S TENNIS
Sophomore Jeremiah Gonzalez is playing the best tennis of his career. The former Harlingen South state finalist has notched a team-best 11-4 record as a St. Mary’s University singles player. He is also part of the Division II Rattlers’ best doubles team. He and partner Bojan Popovic have won 11 matches to just five losses. As a team, St. Mary’s is 11-5 on the season, winning five of its last seven matches.
The 5-foot-9 Gonzalez is just ahead of pace compared to last year’s breakout season, when he ended up 15-6 in singles and 16-9 in doubles. He was named Heartland Conference Player of the Week on March 20 for helping St. Mary’s take down a pair of top-25 teams while also handing a defeat to the No. 5-ranked singles player in the nation. Gonzalez went 5-1 that week, including 3-0 at No. 1 singles and 2-1 at No. 1 doubles.
RIO HONDO’S CASTELLANOS HELPING SUL ROSS ST.
Rio Hondo grad Alexandra Castellanos has exploded onto the collegiate softball scene with Division III Sul Ross State in West Texas. The freshman has started 26 of the Lobos’ 27 games through last weekend and is batting .323 with 20 hits and five RBIs for the 14-15 team, which plays in the American Southwest Conference and is based in Alpine.
Castellanos has played at least four different positions for Sul Ross, including second base, third base, left field and right field. The 5-foot-3 Castellanos has performed well at each position, handling 46 of 50 chances, recording 24 putouts and one double play for a .920 fielding percentage.
PORTER’S SAENZ LAUDED BY RED RIVER CONFERENCE
University of Houston-Victoria junior Adrian Saenz was recognized on April 6 as the Red River Athletic Conference Character Athlete of the Week. The Brownsville Porter product and criminal justice major has been a leader for the NAIA UHV men’s golf team for three years.
As part of the RRAC’s commitment to the NAIA Champions of Character program, the conference recognizes student-athletes from member schools who have exhibited a high level of scholarship, sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility and community service. Saenz has been active in the community helping the local Boys & Girls Club, took the lead on team study sessions and had the highest GPA on the golf team in the fall semester.
Know an RGV athlete doing well at the collegiate level in any sport? Send us a tip at [email protected].