By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
PHARR — The Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame honored its Class of 2019 inductees during Saturday’s 32nd annual banquet at Pharr Events Center.
The nine new inductees included Brownsville’s Desi Najera (football), Brownsville’s Frank Parker Sr. (football), Harlingen’s Mike Buck (football officiating), Harlingen’s Jim Morton (football coaching), McAllen’s Leticia Canales (basketball coaching), La Villa’s Lisa Silva Malesich (running), Rio Grande City’s Cesar Perez (baseball), Edinburg’s Mary Frances “Sissy” Skinner (tennis) and Pharr’s Doyle Slayton (football coaching).
Inducted posthumously were football coaches Morton, who died in 1995, and Slayton, who died in 2014.
The total number of inductees in the RGV Sports Hall of Fame rose to more than 270 after Saturday.
Najera was an all-state quarterback for the Brownsville High Golden Eagles in 1969, when they went 10-2 and won the District 26-4A championship while advancing to the regional round of the playoffs.
In earning all-state recognition in 1969, Najera passed for 1,300 yards and 19 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,000 yards and 12 scores.
“This is very humbling to me,” Najera said of his induction. “It means a lot to me to be part of an organization that includes such icons and legends of sports in the Valley as Tom Landry and Bobby Morrow.
“I’m just very grateful and blessed,” Najera added. “This is very incredible for me and my family.”
Parker has gained induction at age 90. He played for Brownsville High on the varsity for three seasons, starting as a junior and senior in the 1940s. He played for the Texas Longhorns during the late 1940s before his college career was cut short by injury.
Parker, a successful Brownsville businessman, said sports have influenced his life in a positive way.
“It’s nice to receive this award, and I’m very humbled,” Parker said. “I’m (still) very supportive of my coaches and teachers (from high school) for helping me to get here (to this induction).
“You may hear about being inducted and things like that, but when it happens to you there’s a big difference,” Parker added. “It’s quite an honor. I trained hard, was hard-nosed and I listened to my teachers and coaches. I ended up getting a scholarship to play football at UT, so it all worked out great for me (getting my degree).”
Buck was a former longtime resident of Harlingen before moving to Bastrop during the last year. His football officiating career ran from 1979 to 2017 and included 1,444 games.
The late Morton left a lasting influence as a drill instructor, football coach and athletic director at Marine Military Academy in Harlingen from 1969 to 1994. He also coached basketball and track at MMA.
Ken Morton, one of Jim Morton’s four sons, accepted the RGV Hall of Fame honor on behalf of the Morton family. Ken Morton said his father had a hard-as-nails reputation and added he was a fair man.
He said his father would be very grateful for Saturday’s induction.
“He would consider it quite an honor,” Ken Morton said. “He would definitely think it’s really something to be honored. My father would be very thankful.
“This is something we’ve been waiting for (as a family) a long time,” Ken Morton added. “To be recognized by his peers would mean so much to my father. He loved what he did (coaching at MMA).”
Saturday’s inductees also included a runner from La Villa (Malesich) who won five gold medals at the Class 2A level in cross country and track for the Lady Cardinals, and a former basketball standout as a player at McAllen High (Canales) who topped 800 career victories as a 30-year coach and took her Corpus Christi Carroll squads to state three times (1998, 1999 and 2000).
Also, there was a late longtime Valley football coach (Slayton) who had stints at Santa Rosa, Zapata, Lyford, Progreso, Harlingen South and Brownsville Hanna, and a tennis standout (Skinner) who has played her sport since age 9 and continued through her current age of 71. She has been a strong advocate for tennis as a player, tennis pro, coach at Sharyland High and a tennis administrator in the Upper Valley.
Also inducted was a former baseball pitcher in high school and college (Perez) who took Texas Southmost College and Sam Houston State University to separate college world series tournaments with a 93-mph fastball.
Perez was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1979 while at Sam Houston State and by the Cincinnati Reds in 1977 while at TSC.