By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
PHARR — A day to always remember arrived Saturday for Kim Edquist, Sammy Montalvo and Tony Villarreal III.
Those three individuals, all with ties to the Brownsville area, were inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame along with seven other honorees at the organization’s 31st annual banquet at Pharr Events Center, formerly Boggus Ford Events Center.
Villarreal, noted for his success as a Valley football coach with nearly 200 victories, said it was a pleasure to be inducted, especially along with Montalvo, a former track standout at Pace who won gold medals at the UIL state meet in back-to-back years (1979 and 1980) in the 800 meters.
“ Sammy and I grew up in the same neighborhood in Brownsville,” Villarreal said. “I was faster than Sammy only because I was older. But once he grew up, I couldn’t catch him anymore. We always used to play touch football and he was such a great athlete.
“ It’s amazing and kind of a little weird that here we are, both going into the RGV Sports Hall of Fame together,” Villarreal added.
Villarreal’s last season as a head coach was 2016 at Weslaco High. He remains a football consultant and was a part of the La Joya High program in 2017.
In 27 years as a head coach at Port Isabel, PSJA North, Hanna and Weslaco High, Villarreal amassed 197 victories and continues to rank as one of the Valley’s winningest football coaches. He coached 36 years overall.
Montalvo has been an assistant football coach at Brownsville Veterans Memmorial since 2010 with previous high school coaching stints at Pace, Los Fresnos and Lopez. In a coaching career that began in 1986, he has also coached track, including 2002 when he guided Los Fresnos to a district title in the sport.
Actually, the reason behind Montalvo’s induction is for his standout showing as a Pace track athlete. He won the Class 4A state championship in the 800 meters in Austin as a junior in 1979 and captured the state title again in the same event as a senior in 1980.
He’s one of the few from the Valley to achieve such a feat.
“ I’m honored, appreciative and just very blessed,” Montalvo said of his induction. “Just thinking back over the last 35 or 38 years (as an athlete and a coach), it brings me a lot of joy and brings back a lot of good memories. I’m just very honored.”
Edquist is a former Los Fresnos girls basketball coach who retired following the 2016-17 season after guiding the Lady Falcons to 528 wins, 17 trips to the playoffs and seven district titles in 27 seasons.
Edquist said she is grateful for her induction, but really wasn’t too thrilled about giving an acceptance speech in front of the many banquet attendees at Pharr Events Center.
“ I’m happy to be here, but like I said before, I don’t really like doing these things (and getting up to speak like this),” she said. “I just wish it was Sunday already. I’m excited and I’m honored. It’s a privilege, but I still wish it was over.”
The other seven inductees Saturday were Steve Alaniz of Edinburg (football), Roland Ingram of Harlingen (tennis), Phil Danaher of Calallen (football), Rose Marie Lefner White of Lyford (basketball), Becky Dube Thomas of McAllen (basketball), Joe Mancha of McAllen (football) and John Tripson of Mission (football).
Mancha and Tripson were inducted posthumously. Thomas was out of town and unable to attend. She was represented at the banquet by her parents, Larry and Barbara Dube, and her coach at McAllen High, Teresa Casso, who gave the acceptance speech.
The RGV Sports Hall of Fame has inducted approximately 250 individuals who have brought distinction to South Texas through their achievements in sports since the first class of enshrinees in 1988 that included Tom Landry of Mission and Bobby Morrow of San Benito.