Monday, Aug. 10

Non-District

Los Fresnos def. Sharyland High 25-17, 25-20, 25-20

Hidalgo def. Rio Grande City 14-25, 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10

Juan Diego Academy def. Valley View 25-18, 25-16, 17-25, 22-25, 15-10

Tuesday, Aug. 11

Non-District

Brownsville Porter def. La Feria 23-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-20, 15-11

Edcouch-Elsa def. Laredo United 25-21, 25-20

McAllen Rowe def. Edcouch-Elsa 23-25, 25-15, 27-25

Progreso def. PSJA Southwest 25-22, 25-22, 25-22

Brownsville Veterans def. PSJA Memorial 25-20, 25-16, 25-16

McAllen High def. Laredo Alexander 25-23, 25-15, 25-14

Edinburg Vela def. Donna High 25-15, 23-25, 25-19

Edinburg Vela def. Weslaco High 25-20, 25-22

Donna High def. Weslaco High 25-12, 25-16

Edinburg High def. Mercedes 25-12, 25-12, 20-25, 26-28, 15-8

Edinburg High def. Harlingen South 25-20, 25-15, 25-23

Mission Veterans def. McAllen Memorial 25-23, 26-24, 25-18

Donna North def. PSJA North 19-25, 25-16, 25-15, 19-25, 15-10

Edinburg North def. Mission High 25-13, 26-28, 25-22, 28-26

Brownsville Rivera def. Edinburg Economedes 25-20, 25-19, 25-18

PSJA High def. La Joya High 25-15, 15-11, 25-14

San Benito def. Juan Diego Academy 26-24, 25-19, 25-15

Valley View at La Joya Palmview, not reported

San Perlita vs. Rio Hondo vs. Lyford at Rio Hondo, not reported

Roma at Weslaco East, not reported

Rio Grande City at La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, not reported

Premont at Monte Alto, not reported

Wednesday, Aug. 12

Non-District

Santa Rosa vs. Grulla vs. Santa Maria at Grulla, 10 a.m.

Tuesday’s Games

Non-District

EDINBURG NORTH DEF. MISSION HIGH

25-13, 26-28, 25-22, 28-26

MISSION HIGH — Maria Garcia 15 kills, 11 points, 10 assists, 9 digs; Lissette Vela 11 kills; Nicole Reyes 8 kills; Clarissa Lopez 7 kills, 6 blocks, 5 points; Alyssa Olivarez 8 points, 18 digs; Emily Alvarado 5 kills, 6 points, 26 assists, 11 digs; Kazzy Rodriguez 33 digs.

EDINBURG NORTH — Not reported.

RECORD — Mission High 0-1; Edinburg North 1-0

DONNA NORTH DEF. PSJA NORTH

19-25, 25-16, 25-15, 19-25, 15-10

PSJA NORTH — Maryeld Gonzalez 10 kills, 6 digs, 3 aces; Stephanie Cristin 8 kills, 6 digs, 6 blocks, 2 aces; Bernice Moreno 10 digs; Ashlyn Castillo 10 digs.

DONNA NORTH — Not reported.

RECORD — Donna North 1-0; PSJA North 0-1

McALLEN HIGH DEF. LAREDO ALEXANDER

25-23, 25-15, 25-14

McALLEN HIGH — Kellie Woodin 8 digs, 2 kills; Julia Monday 11 kills, 3 block kills, 3 digs; Carter Helmcamp 4 kills, 1 block kill, 13 assists; Alexis Giusti 5 kills, 12 assists; Allison Amaya 6 digs; Sydney Pemelton 9 kills.

LAREDO ALEXANDER — Not reported.

RECORDS — McAllen High 1-0.

EDINBURG VELA DEF. DONNA HIGH

25-15, 23-25, 25-19

EDINBURG VELA — Jaida Muhammad 16 kills, 7 digs, 7 points; Julissa Cuellar 24 assists; Nicole Avelar 17 kills, 5 points; Mariely Rebollar 13 assists; Dyllan Guerra 16 points, 6 aces, 7 digs.

DONNA HIGH — NOT REPORTED

RECORDS — Edinburg Vela 1-0; Donna High 0-1

EDINBURG VELA DEF. WESLACO HIGH

25-20, 25-22

EDINBURG VELA — Jaida Muhammad 6 kills, 9 digs; Nicole Avelar 6 kills, 5 points; Julissa Cuellar 13 assists, 6 points.

RECORDS — Edinburg Vela 2-0; Weslaco High 0-1.

DONNA HIGH DEF. WESLACO HIGH

25-12, 25-16

DONNA — Melanie Arenas 3 kills, 3 digs, 3 blocks; Adrianna Martinez 11 assists, 2 aces, 5 digs; Sarah Gonzalez 1 kill, 3 blocks; Yvette Tamez 4 kills, 4 blocks.

RECORDS — Donna High 1-1; Weslaco High 0-2.

EDINBURG HIGH DEF. MERCEDES

25-12, 25-12, 20-25, 26-28, 15-8

EDINBURG HIGH — Dezi Marmolejo 13 kills, 2 blocks, 7 assists, 10 assists, 13 digs; Marissa Arce 14 kills, 4 digs; Amber Reyes 4 kills, 5 blocks, 1 ace, 1 assist, 4 digs; Tianna Howard 6 kills, 6 blocks; Yessi Molina 20 assists, 4 kills, 1 block, 4 aces, 3 digs; Elizabeth Olivarez, 30 digs, 3 aces, 1 assist; Bree Pena 16 digs; Natalie Rodriguez 5 assists, 5 kills, 1 block, 2 digs, 4 aces.

MERCEDES — Not reported.

RECORDS — Edinburg High 1-0.

EDINBURG HIGH DEF. HARLINGEN SOUTH

25-20, 25-15, 25-23

EDINBURG HIGH — Dezi Marmolejo 7 kills, 8 aces, 4 assists, 9 digs; Marissa Arce 5 kills, 1 dig; Amber Reyes 7 kills, 3 blocks, 4 digs, 1 ace; Tianna Howard 2 kills, 1 block; Yessi Molina 2 kills, 16 assists, 1 ace, 2 digs; Elizabeth Olivarez 1 kill, 16 digs, 1 ace; Bree Pena 6 digs; Natalie Rodriguez 1 kill, 2 digs.

HARLINGEN SOUTH — Not reported.

RECORDS — Edinburg High 2-0.

EDCOUCH-ELSA DEF. LAREDO UNITED

25-21, 25-20

EDCOUCH-ELSA — Odessa Mata 2 aces, 14 digs; Samantha Martinez 12 kills, 5 aces, 14 assists, 9 digs; Ale Martinez 10 kills, 3 blocks, 1 assist; Jackie Alvarado 18 digs, 1 assist; Cassidy Martinez 4 kills, 4 digs; Paoma Ybarra 3 kills, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 2 digs.

LAREDO UNITED — Not reported.

RECORDS — Edcouch-Elsa 1-0.

McALLEN ROWE DEF. EDCOUCH-ELSA

23-25, 25-15, 27-25

EDCOUCH-ELSA — Maddie Acevedo 3 aces, 5 kills, 1 block, 1 assist, 14 digs; Jackie De Los Santos 2 aces, 11 assists; Samantha Martinez 2 assists, 9 kills, 15 assits; Ale Martinez 6 kills, 7 blocks, 1 assist.

RECORDS — Edcouch-Elsa 2-0; McAllen Rowe 0-1.

BROWNSVILLE VETERANS DEF. PSJA MEMORIAL

25-20, 25-16, 25-16

PSJA MEMORIAL — Kristi Gomez 7 kills; Deserey Gomez 4 kills, Amanda Aguilera 10 assists, Carla de Leon 9 digs; Mireya Martinez 2 digs; Victoria Maldonado 2 digs.

RECORDS — PSJA Memorial 0-1; Brownsville Veterans 1-0.

BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — Despite playing with a starting lineup they had never practiced, the Mission Veterans Memorial Lady Patriots volleyball team showed very few, if any, cracks during Tuesday’s season opener.

Even with a player quitting the team before the game, coach Diana Lerma’s Lady Patriots still looked like the class of the Valley, taking down McAllen Memorial 25-23, 26-24, 25-18 at Mission Vets.

“It’s sad seeing one of our fellow teammates leave, but we can’t dwell on it,” middle blocker Daisy Reyna said. “We can’t be like, ‘Oh, they left, let’s not give it our best.’ No, we’re going to give it our best. We’re going to play even harder. … I feel like today, we did show that there wasn’t a big gap for them leaving.”

The Lady Patriots entered Tuesday with just eight players on the roster, down from the original 11. Lerma declined to comment on who the departed players were, or what their rationale was for leaving.

“When you have a loss of players, you’re going to feel it, being that they’ve been with us for some time,” Lerma said. “But understanding that they have to adjust to what we have and do their best, I think they handled it very well.”

Graduating just one senior from a team that made the school’s second consecutive trip to the state’s Sweet 16 last year, Mission Veterans still heads into 2015 with high expectations.

The Lady Patriots bring back a pair of All-Valley first teamers in D.D. Ibarra and Gabby Lerma, plus an All-Valley second-team player in Reyna.

“I feel like our team is capable of going past the Sweet 16. Last year, yes, we didn’t make it. But I felt like we could’ve,” Reyna said. “It’s just that, ‘Oh, they’re taller. They’re better. They come from up state.’ Yes, we get scared, but I feel like we can beat them. We can go further.”

All three big-ticket returners showed well on Tuesday. Reyna had 11 kills and 6 blocks, Gabby had 10 kills and 15 digs, and Ibarra just missed out on a triple double with 9 kills, 16 assists and 11 digs.

The Lady Patriots were pushed in the first and second sets on Tuesday, a rare occurrence for a team that hadn’t lost to a Valley opponent since 2012 before a slip-up against Los Fresnos last season. In the first, Mission Vets trailed for a large chunk before going on a 9-5 run to close it out. In set two, Memorial led 24-23 before Vets reeled off three straight points to claim it.

Gabby said the team drew on its wealth of experience. She specifically cited last season’s regional quarterfinal matchup against Calallen, when Vets lost the first set and trailed in others before winning in four. That same resiliency was on display Tuesday.

“We came back. We didn’t let that stop us,” Gabby said. “We didn’t get scared, or shut down, or anything. We just pushed and we came out with the win.”

The Lady Patriots believe they will rely on their defense to try to get back to the Sweet 16. While Mission Veterans doesn’t have as much height as many of their up-state opponents, the team believes it can make up for it by getting to every ball and keeping points alive.

Coach Lerma said one of the biggest keys for that unit is libero Mariah Gonzalez, a starter who was not a part of last season’s team.

“We’re here for a reason: We’re here to give it our all,” Gonzalez said. “We want to go to state. The people we do have on the team, that’s everyone’s goal. And that’s what we’ll do together.”

[email protected]

Monday, Aug. 10
Non-District
Los Fresnos def. Sharyland High 25-17, 25-20, 25-20
Hidalgo def. Rio Grande City 14-25, 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10
Juan Diego Academy def. Valley View 25-18, 25-16, 17-25, 22-25, 15-10

Tuesday, Aug. 11
Non-District
La Feria at Santa Rosa, 11 a.m.
McAllen Rowe vs. Edcouch-Elsa vs. Laredo United at Edcouch-Elsa, 11 a.m.
San Perlita vs. Rio Hondo vs. Lyford at Rio Hondo, Noon
Roma at Weslaco East, noon
Rio Grande City at La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, noon
Premont at Monte Alto, 1 p.m.
Progreso at PSJA Southwest, 2 p.m.
Brownsville Veterans at PSJA Memorial, 2:30 p.m.
McAllen High at Laredo Alexander, 3 p.m.
Edinburg Vela vs. Donna High vs. Weslaco High at Donna High, 3 p.m.
Edinburg High vs. Harlingen South vs. Mercedes at Mercedes, 3 p.m.
Valley View at La Joya Palmview, 4 p.m.
McAllen Memorial at Mission Veterans, 6 p.m.
Brownsville Porter at La Feria, 6 p.m.
PSJA North at Donna North, 6:30 p.m.
Edinburg North at Mission High, 6:30 p.m.
Edinburg Economedes at Brownsville Rivera, 7 p.m.
La Joya High at PSJA High, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 12
Non-District
Santa Rosa vs. Grulla vs. Santa Maria at Grulla, 10 a.m.

Monday’s Match
Non-District
HIDALGO DEF. RIO GRANDE CITY
14-25, 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10
HIDALGO — Karla Cantu 23 kills, Nelly Flores 21 kills, Stephanie Ysasi 20 assists, Tania Sanchez 10 assists.
RIO GRANDE CITY — Not reported.
RECORDS — Hidalgo High 1-0; Rio Grande City 0-1.

BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

LA JOYA — Despite a bullish running style that allowed him to rack up 987 yards and nine touchdowns last season, La Joya High back Justin Leanos comes across quiet and reserved. That is until conversation shifts to the Coyotes’ offensive modifications. Then, Leanos is all smiles.

“Actually, it’s been a big change since we got the new offensive coordinator,” Leanos said. “A lot more running.”

Under new offensive coordinator Walter Patterson — an in-house promotion to replace the retired Kenny Vencia — La Joya could be making a few tweaks from last year’s balanced attack. On the heels of the best season since the 2007 La Joya ISD split, the Coyotes have plenty of pieces to work with. Eight starters return on that side of the ball.

“There’s different things that we’re going to go ahead and switch up offensively,” coach George Espinoza said. “Primarily, we’re going to keep it the same. We’re just going to tweak it up a little bit.”

Last season, the Coyotes finished fifth in the district in offense with 254.5 yards per game. Operating primarily out of the shotgun, La Joya boasted a balanced attack, as one of just three teams in the district to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing and passing.

From a play-calling perspective, Espinoza said the biggest difference will be operating under center more often, sometimes in a two-back set.

“Last year, when we were in shotgun most of the time, everybody knew what was coming,” said senior quarterback John Cadena, who is entering his first season as the starter. “Either it was a passing play, or Justin was going to get the handoff. But this year, it’s very different now. We have read options. We’re passing, and we’re giving the ball off to Justin, too.”

Espinoza sees Cadena as a greater rushing threat than last season’s starting quarterback, Julio Garcia. Cadena got a taste of varsity action as a junior but was limited by a deep bruise around his ankle area that would swell up whenever he tried to run or cut.

Espinoza said Cadena would have been more involved if not for the injury. Instead, he appeared in six games, completing 5 of 11 passes for 57 yards and rushing 25 times for 79 yards and a touchdown.

“I learned it’s not easy being a quarterback at the varsity level,” Cadena said of his junior year. “But the things I’m doing right now are going to get me ready and prepared for this season.”

Cadena’s transition to the starting role will be eased by the rushing ability of Leanos, who Espinoza said is the best running back in the district aside from McAllen Memorial’s Trevor Speights.

Cadena benefits from having three starters back on the offensive line, plus four returners at wideout. The receivers group is highlighted by three-year starters Victor Dehoyos and J.C. Maldonado, who each had 16 catches in 2014.

“They have a lot of experience, they know what’s coming, and they know what Friday nights are all about,” Cadena said.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Getting the chance to start most of the season as only a sophomore, La Joya middle linebacker Rey Hernandez surprised himself in 2014. He finished the year as the team’s fourth-leading tackler — and top returner — with 48 stops. He also notched an interception, a forced fumble and 1.5 sacks.

“I didn’t expect much of myself, but apparently I did it big,” Hernandez said. “I impacted my team. As a middle linebacker and a young guy, I had to take over as a leader calling the plays.”

Espinoza said Hernandez is an ideal fit for that role: smart, coachable, passionate about the game and a strong leader.

KEEPING THEM STRAIGHT

Despite playing in just six games last year due to a fractured tibia suffered during two-a-days, safety Gabriel Rios recorded 42 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble as a junior. Rios said he had to wear a brace throughout the season and needed time to build up his strength and cutting ability as the year went on.

“Overall, I think I did pretty good last year,” Rios said. “This year, I’m aiming for better stats. And probably to win more games.”

In a secondary that returns four starters, Espinoza said Rios is the leader. Espinoza likened Rios to having another coach on the field.

CONTINUE TO CLIMB

La Joya High is looking to follow last year’s 4-7 record (3-3 in district) with another playoff appearance. After notching the school’s first postseason trip since 2007, Espinoza said he sees a new attitude in the program.

“It’s totally different,” Espinoza said. “The kids are motivated. They’re excited. Whereas before, it used to be the coaches who would exhaust themselves trying to get the kids pumped up, now the tables are turned. … They, themselves, are motivated to be out here.”

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LA JOYA HIGH’S PROGNOSIS
With eight starters returning on offense, La Joya is looking to build on last year’s playoff appearance. New quarterback John Cadena will get a boost from returning running back Justin Leanos and top receivers J.C. Maldonado and Victor Dehoyos. The Coyotes also have six back on defense, including a pair of leaders in linebacker Rey Hernandez and safety Gabriel Rios.
Projected 2015 record: 4-7
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: George Espinoza
Year at school: Fourth
Record at La Joya High: 7-24

Check out more stories from The Monitor’s 16-day Two-A-Day Tour:
Weslaco High
PSJA North
Roma

BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

McALLEN — As sisters, McAllen High volleyball players Carter and Taylor Helmcamp experience an amplified version of the setter-hitter relationship.

Whenever they want to work, they can head out in the yard and play pepper. After a particularly trying practice, they have someone under the same roof to vent to. If one isn’t playing well, the other is always there to offer feedback.

And if they end up out of sync during the match, one will always be the first, and harshest, to criticize the other.

“We really don’t get mad at each other that much,” Carter said. “But one game, we both just snapped.”

The players and coach Paula Dodge couldn’t pinpoint the specific match, but they remembered the circumstances. The two just weren’t clicking, and Carter said it seemed like it was only getting worse as the match went on. The actual words exchanged are hardly different than with any other setter and hitter, but the tone and the body language come through loud and clear.

“If someone you’re not related to says, ‘OK, set it higher.’ Or, ‘OK, just hit a little bit faster,’ that’s no biggie,” Taylor said. “But if it’s your sister, it’s like a threat, almost. It’s kind of easier to snap at each other.”

And, just that once, they escalated to the point that Dodge felt the need to call a timeout and regroup her team.

“Coach brought us in and told us we need to stop,” Carter said. “You need to clear your heads. Stop talking to each other like sisters.’ We went out there and just played. Started fresh.”

“Now we laugh about it,” Dodge said. “They understand. You get the adrenaline flowing, and the score is close, and things are happening. Other than that, they usually don’t get after each other.”

Indeed, the Helmcamp sisters are typically on the same page — one of many reasons McAllen High enters the 2015 season as one of the top teams in the Valley.

The duo also started what has become a trend at McAllen High. This season, a pair of Lady Bulldogs seniors will help their freshmen sisters get acclimated to the lower levels of the program: senior Hanna Bishop with her sister Allyson, and senior Alexis Giusti with her sister Samantha.

“They’re very supportive of each other — all of them,” Dodge said. “If they need something for lunch, or they need somebody to go get something, they help each other out a lot. It’s very fortunate that I see them working well together, and laughing together, and taking care of each other.”

For both the Giustis and the Bishops, the younger sister credited the older for piquing her interest in the sport. Allyson’s first exposure to volleyball was watching Hanna’s matches, and she and Samantha both started playing around fifth or sixth grade.

“Lexi always did it first, so I kind of just followed in her footsteps,” Samantha said. “She was a setter, so I said, ‘OK, I’ll set, too.’”

Hanna and Allyson also took to setting, so Hanna was able to teach her younger sister different techniques as they passed back and forth in the front yard.

Likewise, Alexis showed Samantha certain hand adjustments. When it came time to make the jump to high school, Alexis told Samantha the importance of standing out from the crowd and listening to instruction.

“The best advice I can give her is always say, ‘Yes, ma’am,’” Alexis said. “And if coach Dodge says to jump, you say, ‘How high?’”

Allyson said the transition could have been a scary one, were it not for Hanna’s help. Hanna thinks her sister will eventually surpass her. With a two-year head start and Hanna leading the way, Allyson has a leg up in the process.

“I do try and help her out, but she doesn’t really like my criticism, because she thinks she knows more than I do, I guess,” Hanna said with a smile.

As a four-year varsity player and a three-time all-district selection, Hanna knows she’s given her younger sister a lot to live up to.

“There is a lot of pressure since she made varsity her freshman year, but I’m just going to work my hardest and show what talent I have,” Allyson said. “I look up to my sister. … She’s worked very hard these past four years. I plan to work just as hard, and I hope to get up to her level, or higher, one day.”

That gap was never an issue for the Helmcamps, who both hit varsity for the first time last season — Taylor’s sophomore year and Carter’s freshman. The simultaneous ascent seemed fitting for two sisters who say they’ve been playing sports side-by-side their entire lives.

Although they played different positions — the result of Taylor being the taller of the pair — there was always something they could teach each other. Taylor helped Carter with her hitting, and Carter helped Taylor with her serving.

When Carter shifted from libero to setter, the two started working together more directly. The ability to talk through plays or fix their timing away from the court became even more valuable. And going through the strenuous practices became more manageable.

“Just going home and having someone who has been through it with you, it really brings our bond closer,” Taylor said. “We kind of just lean on each other.”

[email protected]

RGVSports Top 10
1. Mission Veterans
2. McAllen High
3. Los Fresnos
4. McAllen Rowe
5. McAllen Memorial
6. Donna High
7. Edinburg North
8. Sharyland Pioneer
9. Edinburg Vela
10. Brownsville Hanna

RGVSports.com

McAllen Memorial running back Trevor Speights has been selected to the 2015 American Family Insurance ALL-USA Preseason Football Team, which was announced Wednesday.

According to the story on USATodayHSS.com, the team “was selected by USA TODAY Sports’ Jim Halley based on past performances and coach and scouting analyst recommendations.” Speights was one of 25 players, a group that includes six running backs.

Speights ran for 2,655 yards and 30 touchdowns last season, earning All-Valley player of the year honors for the second consecutive season and getting a first-team All-State nod from the AP.

GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

Jamaar Taylor knows there is a stigma surrounding high school athletes in the Valley. An ex-NFL player, Taylor saw it when he was playing at Mission High, and he sees the same things today as he helps the next generation.

The criticisms against Valley athletes are numerous: Their teams aren’t good. The standout players aren’t worth sending scouts all that distance. Athletes who do leave the region often return home. And the financial and academic requirements of attending major institutions are often too lofty.

All together, the prospects of a Valley athlete earning a college scholarship — particularly to play Division I football — are daunting.

“We don’t get that opportunity very often,” Taylor said. “We get a couple signees every now and then, but that number, everyone knows it needs to increase.”

Of the 286 commitments from 47 graduating classes since 2007 reported by responding programs from the Edinburg, McAllen, Mission, PSJA and Sharyland school districts, only eight were Division I football players. Four of those were walk-ons.

The past two seasons produced only one Division I football signing from the Valley: Edinburg North’s David Anzaldua, an offensive lineman who inked with the University of Texas-San Antonio in 2014.

The man who recruited him, UTSA assistant coach Polo Gutierrez, said the level of competition is what hurts Valley players the most in their quest to be recruited.

“You have a Division I tackle, maybe, with David Anzaldua, but he’s blocking a 5-foot-9, 195-pound defensive end,” Gutierrez said. “So you go, ‘Well, I haven’t seen him versus anybody.’”

And those questions about competition go for all sports.

In the past five years, the Valley has failed to advance a Class 6A or Class 5A baseball, boys basketball, girls basketball, football or volleyball team past the fourth round of the state playoffs. Fifteen boys soccer teams, three softball teams and two girls soccer team have accomplished the feat during that span.

Harlingen High’s football team came close in 2011, losing 42-27 to San Antonio Madison in the fourth round of the Class 5A playoffs. But that group is the exception.

“It can be one, maybe (Valley teams) are out-athleted,” Gutierrez said. “Two, they’re not used to that stage. Whether nerves get you. … A freshman at Harlingen High School doesn’t get to see that until they were seniors.”

BJ Garcia, who works with athletes across the state as the director of South Texas Showcase, said part of the issue comes down to the old adage of bigger, faster, stronger.

“That does play a part,” Garcia said. “You can’t always do something about the bigger. Some people are just big. The faster and the stronger, you can work on. … I just don’t think there’s as many top quality athletes in one concentrated place.”

Despite the scarcity of talent, schools as big as the University of Texas claim to give South Texas a look in recruiting. McAllen Memorial’s Tyler Marriott was a walk-on for the Longhorns last season, and former Memorial offensive lineman Edward Pequeño will also be walking on to the team in 2015.

“We make sure that we try to get in as many towns as we possibly can,” Texas coach Charlie Strong said during a stop in McAllen last April. “Everyone is assigned a different area. We have a coach who is assigned the Rio Grande Valley, so he has a chance to come down.”

Despite the sentiment, Gutierrez said he rarely sees Valley football players scouted by anyone other than UTSA and Division II’s Texas A&M-Kingsville. The main reason, Gutierrez said, is that the entirety of South Texas, ranging as far north as Victoria, will typically produce “maybe four or five Division I athletes.”

Houston alone has 16 players ranked among ESPN’s top 300 football recruits for the 2016 and 2017 classes. The Valley has none.

“You’re doing a lot of driving time, you’re doing a lot of stuff and investing a lot of money in seeing those five guys,” Gutierrez said. “The majority of the schools, they can go to Houston, they can go to Dallas, they can go to San Antonio, go to one high school and see five Division I signings in one high school.”

When athletes do leave the Valley to pursue college athletics, the perception is that they often return home prematurely.

The effect is felt not just with football players, but with athletes across all sports. Ben Lopez, the recruiter for Lindenwood University’s NAIA and Division II athletic programs in Missouri, said he recruits an average of 35 athletes from the Valley per year. Still, he runs into many who are set on staying home.

“The parents just tell me right off, ‘I don’t want my son to go,’” Lopez said. “I say, ‘OK, sir,’ and that’s it. I don’t push anymore because it’s a culture. It’s nothing new. It’s an old system that we have.”

Lopez said that those who do leave the Valley end up staying at Lindenwood just as often as athletes from anywhere else. But that doesn’t change the stigma.

“You talk to any college coach out there, and they say, ‘South Texas kids like to go home. They don’t usually stick,’” Gutierrez said. “It’s harder for these kids to go out of state or go far away from South Texas, because no matter what, the majority of South Texas is Mexican Americans, and the majority of us are family-oriented and want to be close to their families. It’s hard to go away from home.”

Indeed, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley — previously the University of Texas-Pan American — has been by far the most common landing spot for Division I athletes. The most recent rosters in each sport boast a combined 51 athletes from the Valley.

Twenty-eight of those athletes come from the school’s track and field programs, with Valley natives holding nine of 10 spots on UTRGV’s cross country rosters.

Still, UTRGV distance coach Rob Hansen said he finds about an even split between athletes who are dead set on leaving the Valley and those who are all but sure they want to stay. For those who fall somewhere in the middle, coach Xavier Richardson said he feels UTRGV has the upper hand.

“It’s easier because we’re close to ground to get into their house, to get into their schools and to go by and see their needs,” Richardson said. “I think we have the advantage in that regard.”

The move to a Division I school outside of the Valley is made more difficult by the Valley’s lack of previous Division I athletes. A Valley player transitioning to the heightened standards of college athletics, the increase in class work and the newness of being away from home has few places to look for support, Gutierrez said.

“They don’t have any guidance or people to tell them that that’s normal,” Gutierrez said. “A lot of it is just exposure. They’re just not exposed the way kids from other areas are exposed.”

To help ease the transition to Lindenwood, Lopez said he sticks with athletes through every step of the process. He develops a relationship in high school, follows them through the state playoffs, and stays by their side through orientation and the start of classes.

Taylor, who played Division I football at Texas A&M before being drafted by the New York Giants, is also combating the issue, aiming to give kids an idea of what they might face at the Division I level through his work with the Taylor Sports and Human Performance Lab.

“They hear, ‘OK, you played for the Giants. You played for the Aggies. And you actually played. You’re a letterman. You’re in the record books for that.’ They turn their heads and they look,” Taylor said. “Now you’ve got their attention.”

Compared to areas that have proven to be hotbeds for Division I athletes, Taylor sees the Valley lagging behind in many mental aspects of sports, including game preparation and game psychology. Physically, Valley athletes are a step shy in “body efficiency” — specifically things like proper running form.

“That’s what holds us back,” Taylor said. “It needs to be learned at a young age. Kids up north, they’re learning this at a young age. Kids in Dallas, kids in Houston. There are more pros in those cities.”

The Valley is also at a financial disadvantage. According to a 2012 study by 24/7 Wall Street, the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan areas ranked as the first and second poorest, respectively, in America.

Lopez said Lindenwood recruits from the Valley automatically receive an extra $4,000 toward their scholarship offer, and he’s hoping to up that figure before next year.

“I’d say about 65 percent need more money,” Lopez said, “so I give them more money.”

The academic standards of Lindenwood have proven an even bigger stumbling block for Valley athletes, Lopez said. He said he leaves behind a minimum of 35 athletes — the same number he typically recruits successfully — because they are unable to score a 20 on the ACT.

Lopez said he is consistently pressuring teachers to have students take the tests earlier, but to little avail.

Gutierrez likewise said academics are one of the first things he looks for in a recruit, and to that end Garcia harps on the point with players at South Texas Showcase events.

Given all the stigmas and obstacles surrounding their potential recruitment, Valley athletes can’t afford to raise any more red flags. So says Sean Patterson, whose son, Shea, has gone on to become one of the nation’s top football recruits after starting his career at Hidalgo High School.

“You can’t work as hard as the guy in Houston, Dallas, or even San Antonio,” Sean said. “Geographically, you’re just in a situation where you have to work twice as hard to get noticed.”

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For more stories, videos, photos and graphics covering recruiting in the Valley, visit themonitor.com/recruiting.

GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

ELSA — Wearing a white tank top emblazoned with a to-scale print of a chiseled human torso, McAllen Memorial defensive lineman Ricky Minor looks more fit for a day at the beach than an evening football camp. Nevertheless, Minor is nothing short of dominant in one-on-one drills.

Lining up against some of the Valley’s top offensive line talent, the 6-foot, 272-pound Minor effortlessly beats them off the simulated snap, regularly slapping the blue pad to the turf well before the 3-second time limit.

After conquering challenger after challenger, Minor lines up for his second go against Christian Mascorro, who traveled two and a half hours from Refugio to take part in the South Texas Showcase camp July 25 at Benny Layton Sr. Memorial Stadium in Elsa. Playing at the Class 2A level with Refugio, Mascorro has garnered Division I offers from Davidson and Liberty entering his senior year, and he’s been in touch with about a dozen other schools.

The chance to work against Minor was a big reason Mascorro made the trip, and he proved up to the task, standing Minor up for the first and only time that session. Minor described his encounter with Mascorro as “once in a lifetime.”

“Down here in the Valley, we don’t get many DI athletes,” Minor said. “It’s really an honor to be able to work out with him, and for him to help me get better.”

Such is the goal of South Texas Showcase and its camps: To give athletes a chance to work against high-level competition they otherwise wouldn’t see. The summer showcase is one of a bevy of camps designed to help players develop football skills and prepare for the more rigorous college camps, where top performances could lead to scholarships offers.

“They’re getting looked at, and it comes down to exposure,” said UTSA assistant football coach and recruiter Polo Gutierrez. “Nobody goes down to South Texas but us, but when you come to these camps, all of a sudden there are about 40 kids in South Texas that get scholarships.”

Most major football schools offer some type of summer camp, but Gutierrez warns that visiting camps at Texas, Texas A&M or Baylor is a waste of time and money for players who aren’t already on the big dogs’ radar.

At UTSA, however, players are also scouted by coaches from Division I-AA and Division II schools. The evaluation process starts with the basics: height, weight, 40-yard dash time, shuttle time and vertical jump. Then, players get a chance to show off in position drills or one-on-ones.

“Some guys, we don’t know anything about, and they come bust out a great 40 and have a great day beating guys that we wanted to offer, and then all of a sudden it turns,” Gutierrez said.

The possibility of landing a scholarship based on an impressive showing at a college camp extends beyond football. When PSJA North’s Ileana Aleman signed with the University of Arkansas in Nov. 2014 to play softball, she said an offseason skills camp played a major role. Mike Larabee, then the head coach at Arkansas, echoed the sentiment.

“She came up to a summer camp in June and wowed us with her defense,” Larabee said when Aleman was signed.

And the evaluation process works both ways. Players get a feel for college drills and coaching, with some camps even offering overnight housing in campus dorms.

McAllen Memorial running back Trevor Speights, the Valley’s most sought-after football recruit, has participated in Division I camps everywhere from UTSA to Oregon State.

A much lesser-known prospect, Edinburg North incoming junior quarterback Cristian Espinoza spent his summer bouncing from camp to camp. He started at the Air It Out passing academy in San Antonio before heading to college camps at Texas State and the University of Houston.

“I pick up different techniques, and usually there’s something different that needs to be tweaked about my throwing and my footwork,” Espinoza said. “I just pick it up and take notes.”

Espinoza also worked locally at Pharr’s Golazo sports complex with Jamaar Taylor, a Mission High alum who went on to play at Texas A&M and in the NFL with the New York Giants. Since giving up professional football in 2006, Taylor has returned to the Valley and opened the Taylor Sports and Human Performance Lab, which aims to improve the form and technique of players across all sports.

During the summer, Taylor offers weekly football camps in addition to regular speed and strength camps, which aim to build “more efficient” athletes.

“We have a lot of rounded backs,” Taylor says. “If we can fix their backs, fix their glutes and hamstrings, they’ll have a better chance of getting that Division I scholarship.”

Those scholarships are also the primary aim for South Texas Showcase and director BJ Garcia. Although his camps in the Valley aren’t seen by college coaches, the experience is designed to mimic the drills and process college scouts will put players through at their own camps.

Garcia and his staff — comprised of current and former coaches and players — run through the same formula as UTSA: stretching, timing in the 40 and shuttle, position-group drills and one-on-ones.

During the camp in Elsa, players practiced and tweaked their form on the shuttle and 40-yard dash between reps, finding ways to trim tenths of a second off their times. For those who would visit the UTSA camp just a few days later, such as McAllen High’s Gunnar Henderson, the South Texas Showcase camp acted as a dress rehearsal. Garcia recalled a similar situation with Edcouch-Elsa quarterback Marco Aguinaga, who had a leg up on footwork drills at the TCU quarterback camp after being exposed to them via South Texas Showcase.

“What we’re trying to do is bridge the gap of what your coach is asking of you on a Friday, and what those college coaches want in camp in the morning,” Garcia said. “What we can do is help them get better.”

The three-hour camp in Elsa drew 40 athletes, and Garcia said a camp in June at Weslaco East drew 63.

Each of Garcia’s camps ends with the naming of an MVP, and Henderson was the winner in Elsa. His neon green shirt was stained in blood by the end of the night — the result of an inadvertent elbow on a diving, one-handed catch. But beyond the battle scars, the rising sophomore left with a greater knowledge of what to expect in both college camps and his first varsity season.

“I got used to the contact and the size, and the speed of the game,” Henderson said. “These camps that South Texas Showcase puts on help a lot.”

The biggest barrier to entry is cost, though local camps have tried to stay manageable. Taylor Sports and Human Performance charges $20 per session, and the South Texas Showcase camp in Elsa ran $40. Garcia said a portion of that money went to the family of Anthony Segura, an Edcouch-Elsa player who recently died in a car accident. Garcia’s coaches worked at a reduced rate, and Garcia left with no profit.

Espinoza said his camps ran anywhere from $30 — UTSA’s cost — to $400, depending on if they were overnight. Donna High quarterback Edward Dougherty paid $605 for a four-day stint at the Manning Passing Academy.

For the cost, the camps aim to offer more than just football skills. Espinoza said the college camps he attended outlined the NCAA’s requirements for admission and the best practices to be recruited.

Taylor says his camps aim to build mental strength and provide a crash-course in sports psychology — “Don’t worry about being last place. Just run your race.”

Near the midway point of the South Texas Showcase camp in Elsa, Garcia paused to outline to athletes the value of keeping their social media clean and having their academics in order.

“The biggest thing is mentally understanding what’s required,” Garcia said. “We tell the kids, ‘We don’t expect you to improve in those three hours. But we’re giving you the tools to improve.’”

And, Garcia hopes, the tools to someday land college scholarships.

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For more stories, videos, photos and graphics covering recruiting in the Valley, visit themonitor.com/recruiting.

RGVSports.com

McAllen ISD football season tickets will be going on sale Tuesday at the McAllen ISD Administration Building (200 N. 23rd St.).

Season tickets for McAllen High and McAllen Rowe, which each play five home games, will be $35. Season tickets for McAllen Memorial, which plays six home games, will be $42.

For more information, call 956-618-6089.

McAllen Memorial will play McAllen ISD’s first home game of 2015, at home against Sharyland High on Aug. 28. McAllen Memorial opens its home schedule on Sept. 3, and McAllen High plays its first home game on Sept. 4.

BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER

After Kaina Martinez ran a 54.40 second split to give Texas A&M-Kingsville the lead in the women’s 1,600-meter relay final at the Division-II national championships, senior anchor and Rio Grande City alum Kathy Treviño took the baton and sprinted toward her career-long goal.

“I saw she put in her effort, now I have to put in mine,” Treviño said. “There’s no way I’m going to let her down, or let the rest of the team down, after she went out there and showed her heart.”

Treviño came through with a split of 55.32 — not her best, but enough for her team to set a school record time of 3:41.22 and secure a national title last month in Allendale, Michigan.

The win provided the perfect career ending for Treviño, a former state qualifier in the 400 dash at RGC.

“I was just really trying to finish the race, and when I finished and saw we came in first, I was just like, ‘Wow. We just won,” Treviño said. “We had been working for this all year long, and we talked about it right before the race. How no matter what happens, we already knew we were champions, because we worked our butts of. Knowing that we won it was like, ‘Wow, I’m a part of a winning team.’ It was just a good feeling.”

Treviño said she was nervous entering the final leg of the race, knowing that her teammates were depending on her to hold the lead.

Coming into the final 200 meters, Treviño saw on the video monitor that she was just narrowly ahead, giving her an extra push down the final stretch.

“We wanted to end it with a bang, and we did,” Treviño said. “That was the whole point.”

The team developed high hopes very early in the outdoor season. Treviño and Martinez were veterans of the relay, as was Amber Perry. Jasmine Miller, a freshman, was the missing link that put the team over the top.

Treviño fit in seamlessly as the team’s anchor, a role she’s consistently held on different relay teams dating back to her second year in the program.

“She’s just always able to go out there and run people down from behind like no one else I’ve ever seen,” coach Ryan Dall said. “If she could run an open 400 giving somebody a 20-meter lead and telling her to go catch her, she could be one of the best in the open 400 in the country. She just has that instinct where she sees somebody and she goes and gets them.”

Individually, Treviño didn’t have the year she hoped for, failing to qualify for the nationals in the 200 or 400 — her two primary races. As a senior, she ran her best 400 in 56.22 and her best 200 in 25.15.

Treviño said she couldn’t get over the mental hurdles of solo competition.

“I got it in my head that I couldn’t do it,” Treviño said. “I’ve always worked hard, it’s just believing in myself. I’ve always had difficulty with that.”

Despite her shortcomings as an individual runner, Treviño leaves school having accomplished her primary athletic goal.
She is also studying toward a master’s degree in counseling and guidance, which she hopes to finish in May.

“My thing was always work hard, and then if you work hard, you’ll be the winner,” Treviño said. “It took me a while, but I finally got a national championship.”

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