By HENRY MILLER | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN — McAllen High needed less than 75 minutes in its home gym to dispatch of Harlingen South in the Class 6A Area matchup Friday.

The Bulldogs won in straight sets, 25-14, 25-16, 25-20 and weren’t really seriously threatened.

Lexi Gonzalez again led the team in kills with 27 to go with a pair of blocks, but it was clear during several points in the game where the Bulldogs played soft and sloppy that coach Paula Dodge wasn’t as festive as many would’ve thought, considering the score.

“I’m sorry,” she said following the game. “I’m not very happy right now.”

The visiting Hawks were never a threat, with only one consistent hitter. They trailed 19-9 in the first set before bringing the Harlingen South crowd to their feet and pull within 20-14 on a mini 5-1 that was kept going on two McHi service errors and a hitting error. Gonzalez then helped put the game with three kills in the final five points to head into the second set.

“We play as a team, there’s not just one of us,” said Gonzalez, a junior who has had a dominant season this year for the Bulldogs. “I’m happy we are able to get the win.”

In the third set, again the Bulldogs pulled out to a 20-11 lead before the visitors again put together a run, this time a 9-4 run to pull within 24-20. During that time the Bulldogs had three kill attempts go long and one service error.

With the score 24-20, senior outside hitter Damaris Llanas registered her ninth kill of the night to close the match and give the Bulldogs the three-set sweep.

Sophomore setter Madi Helmcamp had 38 assists, eight digs and a pair of blocks for the Bulldogs.

The night, however, belonged to Gonzalez.

“She played very well,” Dodge said. “She had a good night.”

The Bulldogs didn’t look like the team that won 35-plus matches, finished second in the district and took the No. 9 Class 6A state-ranked McAllen Memorial squad to five sets twice, or the team that defeated a powerful McAllen Rowe team in three sets the past two times the teams met.

Next up for the Bulldogs is Laredo United with time and place to be determined today. The Longhorns easily defeated McAllen Rowe in the first round in McAllen and are led by three 5-foot-11 hitters.

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BY HENRY MILLER | STAFF WRITER

The response came out just like after most questions – with a politically correct tone, down the middle. Don’t say anything another team will put on their lockers for motivation.
The question was succinct; no use not being direct: Will Mission Veterans Memorial win a volleyball state championship someday?
“That’s the goal, that’s what we strive for every year,” came the public-relations response from coach Diana Trevino Lerma.
But if you know Lerma, that response was eating away at her. After those words rattled out, her eyes started wandering, darting all over the interview room; she wanted to say more.
The question was put out there again. Will the Patriots win a state championship in volleyball?
It was too much to handle for the fiercely competitive Lerma. She’s like the Floyd Mayweather of high school volleyball. Nobody can take her down (if they do, she pops right back up) and when she speaks, she usually delivers.
Without missing a beat, in the same matter-of-fact tone as she answers all questions, the words came out. “We’ll win a state championship,” she said, tapping her fingers on the table for emphasis – and to make sure everyone paid attention. “We’ll win it this year.”
Nobody batted an eyelash after her comment, honestly, it was expected. Her sister Gloria Trevino, first-year coach at Edcouch-Elsa, just nodded her head a little in support. She wasn’t hearing anything new. She’s just as competitive – in fact, they cautioned not to play cards in their household … it’s not pretty. “We have to do our victory laps when we win,” Diana joked. “We are incredibly competitive.”
Lerma has good reason to believe this is the year. The Patriots are ranked No. 3 in Class 5A in the latest High School Volleyball Coaches Poll and their resume of victories – 35 so far with just three losses – is as impressive as many 6A schools in the state. In fact, Mission Veterans has defeated some of those ranked 6A schools as part of what has been an amazing season.
The regular season for high school volleyball concludes today. Both sisters’ teams have already clinched the district title and are trying to close out with an undefeated district season. Mission Veterans plays what should be an unthreatening Roma team; Edcouch-Elsa faces revenge-seeking Brownsville Veterans, the team that had won the district in each of the past four years, only to be unseated by the rookie coach and her Yellow Jackets.
“We went five with them last time and they’re going to be gunning for us,” Trevino said. “We know that, and the girls are prepared. They want to finish out the season undefeated in district. It’s a goal we’ve had set.”
Lerma and her Patriots, not to be disrespectful, are past district titles being a goal. In the 16 years she has guided Mission Veterans, 14 of them have been district championships – nine of them undefeated and that will be five in a row if they put away Roma today.
Lerma was hired the same year the school opened.
“They told me it would take three years to be a winning program,” she said. “We won the district title that first year.”
If the slogan “Just win baby” applies to anyone in the Valley it would be Lerma, and the rest of the Trevino family. In all, there are four sisters – Diana Trevino Lerma, Gloria Trevino, Leticia Trevino Ibarra (Mission Veterans High School Athletic Director) and Sonia Trevino (a chiropractor – and part of the four-time then-Metro Conference champion Florida State teams).
“People kind of joke about that but that’s just how competitive we are,” Trevino said. The two coaches/sisters joked about during the time when they were filling out their non-district schedules for this year.
“Nobody wants to play us here in the Valley,” Lerma said.
“I did,” Trevino responded.
“You were going to take a loss there, so I said no,” Lerma added. Ironically, in the 16 years leading the program, Lerma and the Patriots have only 12 district losses (Lerma also surpassed 600 wins this season). The team who beat them the most? None other than Edcouch-Elsa, twice.
There’s a chance the two could meet in the Class 5A playoffs. They’ve already been looking at the possibilities. Both know they have to beat some quality opponents on the way, but a third-round matchup is quite a possibility.
Lerma said she’s thrilled to see her younger sister have an opportunity to coach at the high school level and be tasked with bringing a traditional powerhouse back to that status. Just like her older sister, Trevino is on track – first year, first district title.
“There is no offseason – seasons stop but athletes don’t,” Trevino said. “It’s a lot of hard work and dedication.”
“It takes a lot to be the best,” Lerma said. “Not just the best coach at the time, but being the best in working at how the program is going to continue. It takes a lot of discipline and hard work year round. You don’t need just a chaperone. In the summer I’ll do her camps and she’ll coach my girls. Tell me, is there anything better than that?”
Volleyball runs through the blood of this family, but it all started with the generation of the four sisters. They all played volleyball for the same coach, Carmella Martinez at Mission High and dabbled with other sports, like basketball and cheerleading. But they all found a passion in volleyball and are spreading it to the next generation. Lerma coaches her niece, standout Jackie Howell (also Sonia Trevino’s daughter) and her daughter, Kassy Lerma.
“What makes a successful program is having a leader who knows how to get it done and see how far they are willing to go to get it done,” Lerma said. “Who’s going to help them and who are they going to help along the way.
“Jackie wants to go to the next level and was saying she just wanted to go anywhere. ‘I’ve won long enough,’ she told us. ‘I want to be a part of helping somebody else win too.’ I mean that’s her mom’s mentality – we’re talking about a kid here.”
What we’re talking about is another athlete with Trevino blood who was given a volleyball more than likely at or near birth and who may be called a state champion when the year finishes.

STAFF REPORTS

Mission Veterans High School outside hitter Jackie Howell was named MaxPreps/American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Week from Texas.

One player each week is selected from each state based on their performance.

During the week of Oct. 1-7, Howell played in six games and tallied 48 kills (8 per set), 31 digs, 16 receptions, 3 aces and one block.

The Patriots improved to 31-3 overall and remained unbeaten (9-0) in District 31-5A. Against PSJA Howell tallied an impressive 31 kills in the three-set sweep over PSJA Southwest in one of the Patriots’ matchups last week.

For the year, Howell has 548 kills on a .486 kill rate.

BY HENRY MILLER | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN – A life mantra for McAllen Memorial volleyball coach Lorena Lopez is to “live and enjoy the moment.”
Those moments as the Mustangs volleyball coach are winding down. Lopez, who has walked the Memorial court sidelines since being hired as the freshman coach just a few months after graduating from the University of Texas-Pan American (now UT – Rio Grande Valley) in 2001 will step down from the coaching ranks at the end of this season. She will immediately slide into the role as assistant athletic director under the guidance of school district athletic director Paula Gonzalez.
Lopez took over the reins from Iris Molina in 2001 as the freshman coach and worked her way up the ranks to coach the JV dark team and then assistant varsity coach. Molina became Lopez’s assistant coach in what was a position switch.
“She came in straight out of college and had the knowledge volleyball-wise, and as she climbed the ladder, it became clear that she would be the next one,” said Molina, who coached from 2001 through 2004. “During that time – and even now – she was always learning. She’s always on the lookout for something she can incorporate to make her team better.”
Lopez has collected 381 varsity wins along with four district titles, 12 playoff appearances and a host of other accolades, including being The Monitor’s All-Area Volleyball Coach of the Year twice. She will not reach her 400th win before she moves on, but can reach 390 – and that would mean another deep run into the playoffs.
“We think we can make the regional quarterfinals again,” said Lopez, whose team has been there three straight years. “We have a great group of girls and a strong team. I’m proud of their accomplishments.”
The Mustangs are undefeated in district and hold a two-game lead over both McAllen High and McAllen Rowe, but still have to play them one more time apiece. While the Mustangs are in the driver’s seat, anything can happen when those schools face each other, and picking a winner based on records is highly not recommended. Memorial and McHi play again at noon on Saturday at McHi. The Mustangs and Warriors are scheduled for their rematch at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Memorial.
When Molina stepped down, Lorena came in with a team that had won five straight district titles and just watched several of the Mustangs top players graduate.
“It was a difficult first few years because we graduated a really strong senior class,” said Lopez, who is without Molina on staff this year for the first time. Molina went to Lamar Academy and teaches English. “She was my sounding board and colleague and friend so there’s a piece missing.”
Molina said that she and Lopez were “going to try and finish together.” However, life happens and Molina felt the Lamar opening was her next step.
Lopez was nearly born a coach and says she’s been “coaching forever.” Her daughter, who is 7, has been hitting a volleyball around since she was 2, so there’s more than likely another volleyball player/coach in the making. Sports are in her blood, and while most coaches are adrenaline junkies who get their fix on the sidelines (especially in Lorena’s case against rivals McAllen High and McAllen Rowe), Lopez said she will still be getting those heart-stopping moments as assistant athletic director – and probably more often than ever now that she’ll be on the sidelines cheering for all three schools.
“Believe me, I still get that adrenaline going,” Lopez said. “Now it’s watching all our teams play. I’m out there and my heart is jumping out of my chest. The first time two of our teams played each other I told Paula (Gonzalez), ‘oh my God, I want whichever team has the ball to score.’”
Her wardrobe has a little more variety in it these days. It’s not only Memorial’s Columbia blue but dashes of McAllen Rowe’s dark green and (gulp) McHi purple. While Memorial’s colors have been her life for the past 17 years, she originally was a dark green clad athlete – but at Harlingen South. And Harlingen’s South rival – none other than the purple-laden San Benito Greyhounds. She also donned the dark green for the UTPA Lady Broncs.
“People are already getting a kick out of it – especially at McHi, but not so much at Memorial,” Lopez said with a laugh. “(Memorial football coach Bill) Littleton joked with me that he thought I looked great in everything, until he saw me wearing a McHi shirt.”
Cathey Middle School seventh-grade coach Jenna Trevino (then Jenna Garcia) was a junior on the Mustangs team when Lopez took over as head coach. She said a lot of what she learned from Lopez are the philosophies she uses with her Cobras team. That’s another plus for Memorial since most of the students feed into Memorial from Cathey.
“Working under her has been a dream; I’ve looked up to her since I was 14,” Trevino said. “When I played she was really quiet and very serious – you could never tell when she was upset or when she was happy.
“I cried when she broke the news to me – I took it really hard, even though I didn’t want to show emotions. She told me ‘hey, I’m not dying or leaving the district,’ but it’s still a little heartbreaking to me.”
Lopez also realizes that a lot of the relationships she’s developed professionally over the years – like the intense rivalry with coach Paula Dodge at McHi and coach Magda Canales at McAllen Rowe – will not be quite the same since they won’t be facing off against each other. However, she said the friendships she’s built will continue on.
“It was time for me to do other things, to learn new skills and get out of my comfort zone – and coaching is so my comfort zone,” she said. “I get to do something different and still be involved in athletics. I’ll be just in a different role.
“My relationships with my fellow sister schools, well it will be a change because I’m not going to be there in that same capacity. But coach Dodge and I are really good friends and that’s the same with Magda at Rowe. We are competitive out there – we want to beat each other more than anyone else but especially with Paula and we will talk about it after like it’s nothing.
“In the end, that’s a friendship that’s always going to last past any match.”

[email protected]

TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR

Their collegiate careers have been inextricably intertwined for the past four years.

Two Rio Grande Valley kickers. Both in love with soccer, but they followed the football route to collegiate success. One from Edinburg. One from Brownsville. They’ve taken turns being the Division-II Lone Star Conference’s best kicker the last few seasons. Both are incredibly accurate, and one even has a national championship ring.

In 2015, Edinburg’s Kristov Martinez and Brownsville’s Julio De La Garza were both named LSC all-conference honorable mentions as freshman. Martinez went 12 for 19 on field goals and finished with 92 points, while De La Garza was 10 for 14 and had 68 points.

Next year, Brownsville Lopez’s De La Garza earned first-team all-conference honors, making 11 of 14 field goals and 53 of 55 PATs for 86 total points to help the 9-3 Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas to a bowl game. Second team? Naturally, that was Edinburg High’s Martinez. The 5-foot-6 former UTRGV student went 18 for 24 on field goals and 55 for 58 on PATs for 109 points.

Martinez took his turn last season. He earned LSC first-team all-conference honors and third-team NCAA DII All-America status with a sensational 2017 campaign (24 of 28 FGs and 137 total points), playing a huge role in helping the 14-1 Texas A&M-Commerce Lions capture the DII national title.

In 2017, the 5-foot-10 De La Garza went 11 of 15 on field goals and made 33 PATs for 66 points, earning LSC honorable mention for a TAMUK team that struggled, finishing 4-7 overall.

Now this year — in part because of last year’s unqualified success and his team’s 2018 No. 1 ranking — the senior Martinez was highlighted by Lindy’s Sports as a preseason second-team All-American. Through three games this season, the senior is 3 for 5 on FGs (both misses were beyond 40 yards) and leads the 3-0 Lions in scoring with 19 points.

Kingsville and Commerce met to open the 2018 season, and the Lions bested the Javalinas 37-36 in double overtime. Both kickers had field goals and several extra points in the contest, but in the second OT Texas A&M-Kingsville opted for a two-point try after a TD and failed, giving Commerce the one-point victory. Martinez had the winning extra point for the Lions.

Still, the senior De La Garza — like Martinez — leads his team in scoring this season, booting two field goals and 12 extra points for 18 points through three games.

MEMORIAL’S SPEIGHTS HAS BEST GAME FOR STANFORD

To say Stanford is a running back factory is to say that Ford can churn out F-150s. Welcome McAllen Memorial product Trevor Speights, with hard hat on and football in hand. He manufactured 87 yards on 11 carries to lead the Cardinal past UC-Davis 38-10 on Saturday.

The 5-foot-11, 209-pound junior has been playing behind Heisman Trophy candidate Bryce Love and NFL player Christian McCaffrey for the last two seasons. Although Speights saw action in 11 games last year, play was limited. He had 142 yards on 36 carries in 2017. Saturday’s 11 attempts, 87 yards and a long of 38 were all career best for Speights. Stanford is ranked No. 7 in this week’s AP poll.

SOUTH’S DEL ANGEL SEEING ACTION AT COASTAL BEND

Harlingen South alum Cameron Del Angel has been a major part of the rotation at Coastal Bend College this season. The freshman outside hitter has played in 11 of the Cougars’ 12 matches, racking up 77 kills in 43 sets. The 5-foot-8 Del Angel has also picked up 14 assists and 13 blocks for the 9-3 junior college in Beeville.

Del Angel, who was also a star hoopster at Harlingen South, was an all-district volleyball selection for the Hawks. Coastal Bend plays in the NJCAA’s Region XIV with schools like Laredo Community College and Blinn College. The Cougars’ regular season runs through the end of October, with the region tournament set to begin Nov. 2.

LOS FRESNOS’ ZAPATA IN MIDSEASON FORM AT UTRGV

After a redshirt season in 2017, Los Fresnos product Jennifer Zapata is back where she belongs. The UTRGV cross country runner posted an impressive time of 14 minutes, 48.9 seconds at the Texas A&M Aggie Opener on Aug. 31 and finished fourth among 55 runners from six Division-I universities including TAMU, Houston and UTSA.

The Vaqueros cross country team would be glad to have the 5-foot-2 senior replicate her 2016 success. As a junior, Zapata competed in six meets and earned a spot in the NCAA South Central Regional Championships, where she posted a 37th-place finish with a time of 21:47.2 in the 6K race. Zapata was named WAC second-team all-conference for her work in 2016.

ROMA’S CANTU HITS GRIDIRON FOR KANSAS’ McPHERSON COLLEGE

Diego Cantu is hitting his stride in his third year at McPherson College, a four-year NAIA school in Kansas. The 5-foot-9, 160-pound starting safety has one interception and 10 tackles (eight solo) for the 2-1 Bulldogs in 2018. During the previous two seasons combined, he recorded just eight tackles in eight games played.

The former Roma Gladiator was seen playing safety on TV last weekend as ESPN broadcast McPherson’s game vs. Southwestern (Kan.) on one of its multiple sports channels via Spectrum. Earlier in the season, Cantu had a season-high five tackles against Bethany College. MacPherson is a magnet for RGV talent, as Roma’s R.J. Garza and Edinburg Vela’s Brandon Guzman and Orlando Guzman are also on the Bulldogs’ roster.

TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR

This year’s college football rosters may have more Rio Grande Valley players than ever before. No one knows exactly what that number has been in the past, but typically the number of RGV football players in college has been low — although there have always been some.

This fall, with coaching changes and newer programs still building, the number may be rising to an all-time high. This is especially true in the Central and South Texas regions, where most RGV players, historically, have had the best opportunities to play.

But being on a roster doesn’t necessarily mean playing time. Many players do not start and spend lots of time on the bench or on practice squads. Rosters can be fluid. Coaches can choose to redshirt players or bring them back to the active roster during the season.

The University of the Incarnate Word is the leader in the derby for RGV football recruits, with nine players listed on the 2018 roster. The Division I FCS Cardinals, of the Southland Conference, have players from schools all around the Valley including Edinburg Vela, McAllen High, Weslaco East and Harlingen High. The Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas have six Valley players on their roster. DII TAMUK has long recruited Valley players, and many have starred there or even gone on to the NFL, like Roberto Garza.

Division III Texas Lutheran University in Seguin has five Valley players on its 2018 roster. The Bulldogs are in the same conference with Southwestern University in Georgetown. The Pirates, who have four Valley players on their roster, are led by first-team all-conference quarterback Fred Hover (McHi).

True DI UTSA, of Conference USA, has four RGV football players on its active roster. This year, the Roadrunners put three Valley players on scholarship, including McAllen Memorial recruit Kelechi Nwachuku. Other area schools with RGV players include DIII Trinity University with three, DII UT-Permian Basin (Odessa) with three, DIII Sul Ross State University (Alpine) with three, DI Lamar University (Beaumont) with two, DIII Mary Hardin Baylor with two, and DII National Champion Texas A&M-Commerce with two.

Other Valley players are spread around the state, and the Valley has also placed outliers at big schools, including McAllen Memorial’s Trevor Speights, a junior running back, at Stanford and Los Fresnos’ Mike Mendez, a junior offensive lineman, at Purdue. Former McAllen High running back Josh McGowen is a sophomore at Stephen F. Austin, and McAllen Memorial grad Jonathan Sanchez is a tight end at Rice. Brownsville St. Joseph offensive lineman Miles Fowkes is at Texas A&M, and Edward Pequeno, a defensive lineman from McAllen Memorial, is on Texas’ roster, but the junior has not seen action.

THREE RGV LONGHORNS FARE WELL AT XC MEET

Alex Cruz, Valery Tobias and Brandon Gracia opened the NCAA cross country season by performing well for the University of Texas Longhorns at the Texas Invitational XC Meet in Round Rock. Cruz, a senior from Edinburg High who qualified for the NCAA cross country finals last year, earned second place with a time of 13 minutes, 20.1 seconds in the 4K run.

Tobias, the former state champion from Edinburg IDEA Quest, posted a 15:15.4 mark at the Aug. 31 event. The freshman finished in 17th among 36 runners from UT, Texas Southern and Prairie View. Gracia, a freshman from Rio Grande City, placed seventh in the men’s 5K, crossing the finish in 15:53.1. He finished sixth among his team in a race with 17 runners.

PIONEER’S BARRIENTOS STARTS AS GOALKEEPER FOR TLU

Sharyland Pioneer product Stephanie Barrientos began the 2018 soccer campaign much like she ended 2017 — starting as the stingy goalkeeper for Texas Lutheran University in Seguin. In just two full matches this year, Barrientos has already recorded 15 saves and allowed just two goals while defending 30 shots in 200 minutes.

The 5-foot-6 junior started 18 of TLU’s 19 games last year while leading the DIII Bulldogs to an 8-6-2 overall record. In 2017, Barrientos allowed just 1.39 goals per game while posting a 78 save percentage and recording six shutouts. The athletic training major has made the South Collegiate Athletic Conference honor roll two straight years.

EDINBURG’S OLIVAREZ LEADING OLLU DEFENSE

As a defensive specialist for the Our Lady of Lake University Saints, Elizabeth Olivarez has one goal: stop any and all kill attempts by the opponent. In 2018, so far, so good for the 5-foot-5 Edinburg High product. Olivarez already has 123 digs in 25 games played, putting her on pace to easily outdo her 2017 season of 250 digs in 117 total games played.

So far this year, the communication disorders major’s 4.92 digs per game ranks as second most in the Red River Athletic Conference and 46th nationally among NAIA schools. Although OLLU has started the season 2-5, the Saints have been in every match and have yet to play at home.

Know an RGV athlete doing well at the collegiate level in any sport? Send us a tip at [email protected].

TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR

McALLEN — April showers may mean May flowers, but May in collegiate track and field means conference meets and athletes waiting in bloom for a possible NCAA regional birth.

In the last couple of weekends, dozens of RGV athletes competed in conference meets around the country from the WAC, to the Sun Belt, to the Lone Star, Big 12 and even the SEC. Not everyone took home medals, but many were successful in their endeavors. Here are some highlights:

>> Richard Cervantes, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Lone Star (Division II): Cervantes, the junior and Sharyland High grad, won gold in the shot put and discus events. He tossed the shot 53.40 feet, and he threw the discus 185.76 feet. Cervantes qualified for the DII NCAA regionals.

>> Gabby Torres, UTSA, Conference USA (DI): Torres, a junior from Port Isabel, took fourth place in the women’s heptathlon with 5,117 points. Among the seven events, Torres took first the in high jump and sec-ond in the long jump to bolster her point totals. In 2016, the 5-foot-8 Torres finished 12th in the conference heptathlon. Last year, she moved up to sixth.

>> Ione Rodriguez, Our Lady of the Lake University, Red River (NAIA): Rodriguez, a senior from Port Isabel, was a very busy young woman at the conference meet. The 5-foot-2 distance runner placed third in the 3,000-meter run, second in the 5,000, third in 10,000 and first in the 3,200 relay. With her help, the OLLU women won their first ever conference track and field championship.

>> Antonio Salinas, UTRGV, WAC (DI): Salinas, a sophomore from Mission High, took home the silver medal in the shot put. The first-team all-conference performer tossed the shot 52.76 feet. The 5-foot-10 Salinas also finished sixth in the discus event with a throw of 159.58 meters.

>> Valerie King Mancha, UTRGV, WAC (DI): Mancha, a junior from PSJA High, finished in fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.21 seconds. She also picked up a silver medal when Mancha and her teammates in the 1,600 relay placed second with a time of 46.77 seconds.

>> Alex Cruz, University of Texas, Big 12 (DI): Cruz, a junior from Edinburg High, earned a bronze medal in the 1,500-meter run with a mark of 4:31.28 — just three seconds off the pace. The time was Cruz’s best in the 1,500 at the collegiate level, as she has run multiple different events before settling on the 1,500. Last year, she placed 12th in the 10,000-meter run at the Big 12 Championships.

>> Felipe Valencia, University of Houston, American (DI): A junior from La Joya Palmview, Valencia tossed the shot 64.4 feet and took home the silver medal for the Cougars. Valencia, a former UIL state champion, posted that mark on his fifth and final throw. He also picked up eight points for the Cougars, who won the men’s and women’s American Conference team titles.

Know an RGV athlete doing well at the collegiate level in any sport? Send us a tip at gluca@ themonitor.com.

TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
In collegiate track and field, few meets can top the storied Penn Relays.
Hallowed ground for most runners, the meet is held at the University of Pennsylvania’s historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
Donna High’s Vince Castillo visited the location last weekend, and not just to sightsee. He and his Mississippi State teammates posted a new season best in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:04.61. That was good enough for third place against the stiff competition at the Penn Relays.
Castillo said he’d liked to have taken home the blue ribbon but had fun competing after missing all last year due to a stress fracture in his left foot.
“It was a serious injury, and I had to back off track for the outdoor season and recover patiently,” Castillo said. “The Penn Relays was one of the biggest stages I’ve ever competed on. I ran one of my fastest splits ever (45.3 in the 400). I’m just glad that I’m running again and helping my team.”
He’s more than helping. Individually, he’s been stellar in the 400 hurdles. The former Texas UIL state champion was recently clocked as the fastest collegiate 400 hurdler at the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide Invitational with a 52.30.
Castillo said he feels like he’s back at 100 percent and has room to improve and get faster.
“Honestly, I feel like I’m barely getting started (in his third year at MSU, but only his second outdoor season),” Castillo said. “And once again, I would like to thank all my supporters who have supported me in my track career. I’m glad I can represent the RGV.”
Castillo is beginning to peak at the right time. The Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships are in two weeks.

PIONEER’S YOUNGBLOOD STARTING TO COME AROUND
Sharyland Pioneer’s Mariah Youngblood looks like she’s getting the hang of Division I softball. The 5-foot-6 high school standout started the year shaky and didn’t see much playing time for the Texas Southern Tigers. The pitcher was utilized in just four of the team’s first 20 games. Youngblood managed to go 2-2 in those games, pitching a total of 5 2/3 innings.
Youngblood may have used her pine time wisely. In her last and longest outing on Saturday, the freshman made her second start and threw 99 pitches in 5 2/3 innings, surrendering eight hits, three walks and just two runs in the victory over Prairie View A&M. She had one strikeout and didn’t give up any extra-base hits. Texas Southern is 9-4 in the SWAC and 20-14-1 overall.

LOS FRESNOS’ CALVILLO IMPRESSIVE FOR UC DAVIS
Jaleah Calvillo is a long way from Los Fresnos, but she appears to be feeling right at home at the University of California, Davis — a campus more than 2,000 miles away from the Valley in Northern California. The junior heptathlete is excelling at the multis and has been particularly impressive at the jumps. This season, the 5-foot-7 Calvillo has set a personal record in the long jump and won meets in the high jump.
UC Davis is a Division I university and part of the esteemed University of California system. Davis is located in farm country just west of Sacramento. At last weekend’s dual meet against Sacramento State (where former UTRGV president Robert Nelsen presides), Calvillo took third place in the long jump and fourth place in the javelin throw. At meets this season, she has twice won gold in the high jump.

SHARYLAND HIGH’S GONZALEZ LEADING TEXAS STATE
Jose Angel Gonzalez can run just about any distance race. In four years at Texas State, he’s had top finishes in the 1,500-meter run, the 3,000, 5,000 and the 10K. Gonzalez, a senior from Sharyland High, simply likes to strap it up and run. That was evident last weekend at the Texas State Bobcat Classic in San Marcos, where he took home gold in the 5,000 with a time of 15:07.66.
Gonzalez has been a vital part of the Bobcats’ track and cross country teams for years. As a freshman in 2015, he finished fourth in 10,000 at the Sun Belt Conference Championships. Earlier in the spring, Gonzalez placed seventh at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships. In two weeks, he’ll get another shot at the outdoor title.
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TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR

PHARR — Thursday’s Game 1 of the bi-district series between Sharyland Pioneer and Edcouch-Elsa went into extra innings.

On Friday, Sharyland Pioneer’s powerful bats invoked the mercy rule and its freshman hurler threw a gem for a blowout in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

Diamondbacks pitcher Andrea Ortiz was untouched for the first 3 2/3 innings, then cruised the rest of the way as Pioneer piled up 11 hits and nearly scored at will to beat down Edcouch-Elsa 15-5 in six innings and even the Class 5A bi-district best-of-three series Friday night at PSJA North. Game 3 is scheduled for 5 p.m. today at PSJA North.

The freshman Ortiz surrendered four hits and five runs, a couple unearned, and stuck out two on 93 total pitches. The diminutive Ortiz’s exploits were also on display at the plate, as she collected four hits in five at-bats with three RBIs, three runs and two stolen bases.

Early in the game, Ortiz forced seven of nine E-E batters into pop flies, making easy work of her opponents.

“My fastballs were working the best. I had to have confidence in myself and my pitching and my defense behind me,” Ortiz said. “I knew they were making a lot of plays behind me, especially my outfield. And I knew that once I got confidence, I could throw more pitches. My spin on the ball had a lot to do with them popping up.”

The one-Diamondback wrecking crew was nearly enough to beat the Yellow Jackets on her own, but E-E was uncharacteristically mistake prone and committed a half-dozen errors that either allowed runs to score or kept Pioneer rallies alive.

Yellow Jackets coach Ruth Flores replaced starter Ocean Gomez with E-E trailing 2-0 after two innings, bringing in Aaliyah Cerda for the third stanza. Cerda forced two outs with minimal damage done, but the third out was elusive. Behind a couple of E-E errors, two hit batters, a walk and a few more hits, Pioneer brought 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs in the inning.

The surge built an insurmountable 10-0 lead for the Diamondbacks. The Yellow Jackets made a run in the sixth to make the game a little more interesting, but for the most part, the contest was over. Pioneer added one run each in the fourth and fifth innings and then three more in the bottom of the six to get to 15.

“Today (Friday) we had a long talk before we boarded the bus. We talked about how yesterday (Thursday) was very uncharacteristic of us. We had about eight errors, and we had to cut that back,” Pioneer coach Or-lando Garcia said. “But today, we had our freshman on the mound, and she did great for us. She did a fantas-tic job, but I’m also really proud of our outfield. They have been kind of our demise all season, but today they really stepped it up with some great catches. And then it all came together with our bats.”

Pioneer’s powerful second baseman Fabiola Gonzalez went 2 for 4, blasting two doubles and picking up two RBIs. The Diamondbacks’ Sarah Odale was walked four straight times by E-E.

TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR

McALLEN — The McAllen Rowe Warriors managed to score runs only in the third inning.

Normally, that would be a bad thing. Not Tuesday night. One inning was all they needed.

McAllen Rowe used that six-run third inning to build up a big enough margin to hang on, turning back a rally-minded McAllen Memorial 6-5 to clinch a District 30-6A spot in the state playoffs.

Essentially, Tuesday night’s game was a play-in contest, with the winner getting into the postseason as the No. 4 seed and the loser going home. Rowe started out shaky and trailed 4-0 before rallying and getting behind its pitching and defense to hang on.

“We are a fighting team. We are not going to overpower anyone, but we’ve got the fight in us, and that’s all that matters,” Rowe winning pitcher Sergio Hernandez said.

Rowe entered 6-5 in district play, with Memorial just behind at 5-6.

Early on, the Mustangs appeared to be in control, as they built up a 4-0 lead behind their own strong third inning. Memorial scored once in the second and added three runs in the third behind back-to-back triples from Seth Soto and Alex Alaniz.

But once Hernandez, who finished the game with seven hits allowed and four strikeouts, finally retired the side after facing seven batters and throwing 23 pitches, Rowe’s turn at the played flipped the game around.

Rowe brought the top of the order to the plate, and the Warriors’ first six hitters reached safely with a walk, four hits and a fielder’s choice. Add a Mustangs error and a Warriors double to the mix, and Rowe had the six-run frame it needed.

“In all honesty, I never felt doubt,” Rowe coach Adrian Leal said of falling behind early and then coming back. “If all of us don’t feel doubt, then doubt doesn’t have any area to creep in. We felt it was only the third inning, and we had only batted twice. That was the positive mentality we came in with.”

Memorial added another run in the fifth, but Rowe lefty Zack Perez came on in relief of Hernandez and sat down six of the seven batters he faced to preserve the win.

Hernandez helped his own cause by going 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.