By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
Sammy Montalvo made an important decision to make track his primary sport during his junior year at Pace in the late 1970s.
Montalvo believes the result of that decision is why he is being inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame today at the organization’s 31st annual banquet in Pharr.
Montalvo, 56, a Brownsville native and currently an assistant football coach at Brownsville Veterans Memorial, is one of 10 inductees at today’s Hall of Fame banquet at Pharr Events Center, formerly Boggus Ford Events Center.
The event begins with an informal reception for the inductees at 4 p.m. followed by a catered meal at 5 p.m. and the program at 6 p.m. Banquet tickets are no longer available for purchase.
Listed with their hometowns or city of their accomplishments, besides Montalvo, the other inductees include Tony Villarreal III of Brownsville (football), Kim Edquist of Los Fresnos (basketball), Steve Alaniz of Edinburg (football), Roland Ingram of Harlingen (tennis), Phil
Danaher of Calallen (football), Rose Marie Lefner White of Lyford (basketball) and Becky Dube Thomas of McAllen (basketball).
Also, to be inducted posthumously are Joe Mancha of McAllen (football) and John Tripson of Mission (football).
Leading up to his junior year at Pace, Montalvo stayed quite busy playing football, basketball and baseball and running track for the Vikings.
After going to the UIL state meet as a sophomore in 1978 and placing seventh in the 400 meters, it was clear to Montalvo that his best chance for a college scholarship was as a runner, so he opted to forego basketball and baseball to concentrate on track. He still played football, but made track his main focus and overcame some gridiron injuries to do well.
“Most of my buddies were playing baseball (so it was tough),” Montalvo said. “I decided I wanted to be faster for football, so I went straight track. Looking back, it was such an important decision because, had I chosen baseball, who knows? I probably wouldn’t be getting inducted.
“It’s funny how the decisions you make (at a younger age) can impact your life down the road,” he added.
It was a golden decision to concentrate on track for the 1980 Pace graduate as he went on to win the Class 4A 800 meters at the UIL state meet in Austin both as a junior and a senior before landing a track scholarship to run at the University of Texas-Arlington from 1981-83.
Montalvo ran his best-ever time in the 800, which was 1 minute, 52.50 seconds, at state as a Pace senior in 1980. It ranks as the seventh-fastest 800 all-time in the Valley according to Valley track & field historian Carlos Vela.
“It’s a pretty awesome experience (to win gold at state and do it twice),” Montalvo said. “I had gone to state as a sophomore, so I had been there before (and knew what to expect). There were 20,000 fans in the stands and it was just a fantastic atmosphere. It still is, although the state meet is now held at Mike A. Myers Stadium next door to the (University of Texas) football stadium.
“After my sophomore year at state and getting seventh (in the 400), I told a (Valley) newspaper reporter, ‘I’ll be back (to do better),’” he added. “My goal was to go back to state and my intention was to do it in the 400.
“I was known for my kick. I would do what I needed to do (down the stretch) to win.”
A football injury to Montalvo’s quad muscle as a junior prompted Pace track coach Regino Corona and trainer Larry Brunt to convince the standout athlete to start running the 800 instead of the 400. When Montalvo ran and won the 800 at state in 1979, it was only his seventh time to compete in the event. The 800 soon became his primary race.
“I had a great coach in Regino Corona and he knew my potential in the 800,” Montalvo said. “His only issue was convincing me to do it. Even when I was a sophomore, he was already hinting to me that was what I should do. As it turned out, my football injury is why I started running the 800. The idea was not to have me suffer an injury again (by sprinting the whole way in the 400).”
Also while at Pace, Montalvo played wide receiver and started two years on the football team under coach Gordon Foerster, helping the Vikings record 7-3 and 9-1 seasons in 1978 and 1979.
“Playing football at Pace, it was a tough sport, and you developed a brotherhood with your teammates,” Montalvo said. “We had some great players and some great coaches who were role models, including Coach Foerster, Leonel Garza, Jesus Amaya, Speedy Garza and Leonel Casas, and of course, Coach Corona (in track). We had some really good, quality coaches and I’ve tried to emulate those guys (in my coaching career).”
In 1983, Montalvo transferred from UTA to Southwest Texas State University and decided to concentrate solely on academics, so he didn’t run track. There he earned degrees in finance (1984) and education (1986). He later earned a master’s degree in mid-management administration in 1999 from the University of Texas-Brownsville.
Montalvo has enjoyed a distinguished career in the coaching ranks.
He started his career as a junior high coach at West Oso in 1986.
Returning to his alma mater, he began his high school coaching career with the Vikings in 1987 as a junior varsity football coach and a varsity track assistant. In 1991, Montalvo accepted a job at Los Fresnos to become a varsity football assistant and the head track and cross country coach for the Falcons.
Montalvo returned to Pace as the head football coach and athletic coordinator in 1993 and held those positions until January 1996. Serving as a running backs coach, offensive coordinator and head track coach, Montalvo also has had coaching stints at Los Fresnos (1991-1993, 1996-2003), Lopez (2004-2010) and Brownsville Veterans (2010-present).
He coached Los Fresnos to a district title in track in 2002.
One of Montalvo’s closest associates is David Cantu, the head football coach/athletic coordinator at Brownsville Veterans.
Cantu is looking forward to seeing his good friend inducted.
“Coach Montalvo brings 32 years of incredible experiences and life lessons to our coaching staff,” Cantu said. “He’s someone I’m proud to say I played for (at Los Fresnos) and he’s the perfect combination of intelligence, integrity, competitiveness and leadership.
“There’s no hiding the fact that he’s my right-hand man and No. 1 confidant in coaching,” Cantu added. “I think of him as family and I hope he’s got as many years left in this profession as I do.”
Montalvo said he is grateful for the many people who have influenced his life, and specifically, his career in coaching.
At the top of the list are Cary, his wife of 32 years, and his adult children Leslie and Steven. Leslie is an attorney in Austin and Steven is young physician in residency.
“I’m pretty proud of my family,” Montalvo said.
“To be inducted for the sport of track & field means a lot to me because there have been some tremendous Valley athletes in that sport who have been recognized like I’m being recognized,” he added. “I’m extremely honored and appreciative.
“I think this is a tribute to the coaches in the Valley who coach track & field because we had great coaches back when I ran and we still have great coaches. They do a great job of elevating their athletes’ talents. For me, this is such a great honor.”