HIgh School Sports Magazine-June 2008 Issue

HSSM Football Preview

Coming August 6th!

INSIDE: RGC Wins Gold Medal Pg.6UIL Track and Field of the year Pg.54The Coaches

Best of the Best Pg.22The Pictures

Volume Four Issue Four

www.hssmonline.net

956.929.4700

New Phone Number:

a company of HSSMMedia Group L.L.C.

High School Sports Magazine 2416 Frontera Road

McAllen, Texas 78504

Volume 4 Issue 4May 29-June 30, 2008

Publisher & CEODavid A. Amador

Brent WatersRGV Sales Manager

Alec D. AmadorHSSM Photographer

Jason O. MartinezB.B.A., C.P.T.

HSSM Columnist

Daniel SilvaHSSM Webmaster

HSSM Online Photoswww.hssm.photoreflect.com

HSSM Online Subscriptionswww.hssmonline.net

Website:www.hssmonline.net

All stories and photos published by High School Sports Magazine may not be reprinted without written premission. All stories may be submitted for consideration in the upcoming issues. High School Sports Magazine

prints 13 issues annually beginning in August and ending in July. Mail all inquiries to:

2416 Frontera Road McAllen, Texas 78504

Copyright Protected 2008.

High School Sports Magazine May 29-June 30, 2008 5

www.highschoolsportsmagazine.net

MAY 29-JUNE 30, 2008

On the Cover: By HSSM IMages/David A. Amador

Pole Vaulter. Maggie Rios of Brownsville Pace H.S. is pictured at the 32-5A District Championships.

(HSSM IMages)

VOLUME 4, NO. 4Contents

F E A T U R E S

The MaskBianca Gonzales of Sharyland 19

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

6 The Eyes Of TexasRio Grande City’s Stephen Saenz wins gold medal in shot put event. Leads Valley quali-fiers to end year.

8 Road To Track and FieldHarlingen South’s Kasandra Larios and Mer-cedes H.S. Alex Trevino shine at the State UIL Track and Field Meet.

22 The PicturesHSSM brings you the best photos of 2007-08 featuring teams from McAllen, Harlingen South, Weslaco, and more. Mishak Rivas leads Panthers in state football playoffs.

GREAT ATHLETES

BASKETBALL FEATURE

44 The DreamsMcAllen Memorial brothers hope to find bas-ketball at college level.

54 The Coaches HSSM Awards Top Coaches. McAllen HS Roy Swift weeps top award. Harlingen South’s Engleman wins basketball coaching award.

61 The Losses and WinsHSSM takes you back to the greatest wins and tough losses that fans will remember in 2007-08. Mission Veterans Memorial HS gets eliminated from playoffs.

GREATEST MOMENTS

The

High School Sports Magazine May 29-June 30, 2008 5

TEXAS areThe Eyes of

Upon You!TEXAS areThe Eyes of

Upon You!

HSSM Brings you those who made it to the 2008 UIL State Track and Field ChampionshipsHSSM Brings you those who made it to the 2008 UIL State Track and Field Championships

Photography By David A. Amador

6 High School Sports Magazine May 29-June 30, 2008 7

TEXAS areThe Eyes of

Upon You!TEXAS areThe Eyes of

Upon You!

HSSM Brings you those who made it to the 2008 UIL State Track and Field ChampionshipsHSSM Brings you those who made it to the 2008 UIL State Track and Field Championships

(McAllen, Tx)-Rio Grande City’s Stephen Saenz led the Rio Grande Valley on May 9-10th at the UIL Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin by winning the gold medal in the shot put event with a throw of 64’09.75 on his fourth attempt. Saenz started the day by hitting 61’0 on his first attempt and then he would scratch on his next two throws. Houston Jersey Village’s Michael Barbas then took the lead with his best throw of 62’04.25. “This is unbelievable. I worked hard all season long to get here. This win is for my parents,” said Saenz. Surprisingly, Rio Grande City would finish fourth overall with 20 points, just short of getting the bronze trophy in total team standings. Saenz would set Valley records in the shot put with his best throw of 67’06.75 and in the discus throw, 204’0.

(McAllen, Tx)-Rio Grande City’s Stephen Saenz led the Rio Grande Valley on May 9-10th at the UIL Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin by winning the gold medal in the shot put event with a throw of 64’09.75 on his fourth attempt. Saenz started the day by hitting 61’0 on his first attempt and then he would scratch on his next two throws. Houston Jersey Village’s Michael Barbas then took the lead with his best throw of 62’04.25. “This is unbelievable. I worked hard all season long to get here. This win is for my parents,” said Saenz. Surprisingly, Rio Grande City would finish fourth overall with 20 points, just short of getting the bronze trophy in total team standings. Saenz would set Valley records in the shot put with his best throw of 67’06.75 and in the discus throw, 204’0.

www.texashighschoolsportsmagazine.com


Road to State Track and Field

ChampionshipsAustin, Texas

Deandra BarrosoLong Jump 7thMercedes H.S.

David RodriguezShot Put 3rd

Raymondville H.S.Robin Torres

800m 3rdWeslaco East H.S.

Alex Trevino100m Dash 6th200m Dash 3rdMercedes H.S.

Alex de la Garza1600M 2nd

Mercedes H.S.Mishak Rivas

Long Jump 5th400M 3rd

Weslaco H.S.Laura OchoaShot Put 6th

Brownsville Rivera H.S.Stephen Saenz

Discus 3rdShot Put 1st

Rio Grande City H.S.Tricia Terry3200M 5th1600M 2nd

Oscar Garza800M 3rd

La Joya H.S.Kasandra Larios100M Hurdles 7th

Harlingen South H.S.Katherine Trevino

400M Dash 6thRio Grande City H.S.

Brandon Broden1600M run 8th

Brownsville Hanna H.S.

Pure Gold. Stephen Saenz launches the winning throw in the Class 5A Shot Put Event at the 2008 UIL Track and Field Championships held in Austin, Texas.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

8 High School Sports Magazine


Bronze Medal. Mishak Rivas of Weslaco H.S. finished third at the Class 5A Track and Field Champi-onships with a time of 47.29 in the 400m dash.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)





Flying High. Mishak Rivas of Weslaco H.S. ended his high school career with a jump of 23’02.50 in the Long Jump event at the Class 5A UIL Track and Field Cham-pionships held in Austin, Texas. He will attend Texas State University in the fall semester. He finished fifth overall.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

www.texashighschoolsportsmagazine.com 12 High School Sports Magazine

www.texashighschoolsportsmagazine.com 12 High School Sports Magazine

A Sprint for Bronze. Os-car Garza of La Joya H.S. finished third in the Class 5A 800m run with a time of 1:54.44 at the 2008 UIL Track and Field Champion-ships held in Austin, Texas. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)





Up and Over. Kasandra Larios of Harlingen South H.S. finished 7th with a time of 14.64 seconds in the Class 5A 100m Hurdles at the 2008 UIL Track and Field Championships held in Austin, Texas.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

www.texashighschoolsportsmagazine.com May 29-June 30, 2008 17

A Bronze Medal. Stephen Saenz of Rio Grande City H.S. finished third with a toss of 180’01 in the Class 5A Discus Event at the 2008 UIL Track and Field Championships held in Austin, Texas.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


Great Throw. Laura Ochoa of Brownsville Rivera H.S. placed fifth in the Discus Event with a throw of 126’03 in the Class 5A 2008 UIL Track and Field Championships held in Austin, Texas.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

www.texashighschoolsportsmagazine.com 18 High School Sports Magazine May 29-June 30, 2008 19

State 5A Top Eight. Gerardo Espi-noza of Weslaco H.S. placed 7th in the 400m with a time of 48.31 seconds at the 2008 UIL Track and Field Champi-onships held in Austin, Texas.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


State 5A Silver Medal. Tricia Terry placed second in the 1600m with a time of 5:01.74 at the 2008 UIL Track and Field Champion-ships held in Austin, Texas.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


The Pictures“ I’m honored to have captured these moments for High School Sports Magazine

The Game. Football Fri-day Nights. The Sweat. The Pictures. The Ropes. HSSM captured these moments and now we take you back to 2007 and

2008. Each year, high school athletes are pushed to the limits for one quest: Victory. Many fans sometimes do not understand all the bruises players cover up on game day. Players will do whatever it will take to make sure

that they don’t let their comrades “fall from holding to the rope”. Head coach Mel Rios of PSJA says that he has a “rope” message for his players posted outside his office. It reminds his team every day of how it important it is to

The Pictureswww.hssmonline.net

“

I’m honored to have captured these moments for High School Sports MagazineDavid A. Amador-HSSM Photographer

The Take Down. Rolando Salinas of Har-lingen South grabs the face mask of PSJA Quarterback Juan Palomin.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

help each other no matter what the consequences will be. “If each player can help one another to hold on and not let go, this will build character and players will believe that helping each other is important,” added Rios. High

School Sports Magazine brings you the pictures and those mo-ments displaying how players held on regardless of win or lose. Most importantly, they held on to the ropes of life.


HSSM Football Player of the Year & All-Time RGV Rush-ing Leader. Mishak Rivas rushed for 3,300 yards in 13 games in 2008. He also led Weslaco to the State 5A Divi-sion II Region IV Semifinals game against SA Madison. The Panthers lost 59-42. (Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


Clash of Titans. Both Harlingen and Los Fresnos made the state football playoffs in 2008. (Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

May 29-June 30, 2008 27

Class 5A Division I Bi-District Champions. The Donna Redskins defeated Laredo Nixon 28-21 to advance to the area playoffs. The Red-skins also captured the 30-5A title. (Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

May 29-June 30, 2008 29

Tough San Benito Greyhounds. Celso Saldivar led his Greyhounds to the State 5A Division II football play-offs in 2008. (Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


Fumble! Edinburg North’s John Erik Melchor recovers a lost fumble against the PSJA North Raiders. The Cougars made the playoffs in 2008. (Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


May 29-June 30, 2008 33

Great Run! Edcouch-Elsa’s QB Erik Nino will return in 2008 to lead the 32-4A Yellowjack-ets to a possible sixth straight title. The Yellowjackets defeat-ed Alice 18-17 in the Class 4A Division II playoffs. Edcouch-Elsa also finished the season with a 32-game district win streak. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


State 2A Quarterfinalist! Santa Rosa made school history by advancing to the quartefinals in 2008. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

C H A M P I O N S A N D P L A Y O F F S .


Too Frigid. No Catch! La Joya’s Eric Ochoa knocks down a pass to PSJA’s Jon Cavazos in the State 5A Region IV Area playoffs. The Coyotes won 28-14. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)



R I V A L R I E S A N D G R E A T N E S S .Fumble or Touchdown? McAllen Nikki Rowe’s Cam-eron Gatling fumbles the ball prior to crossing the goal line. The referee ruled it a touchdown. Harlingen South would win 30-24 in overtime to win the Class 5A Division II Area title. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


Great Pitch. Lorena Rios of PSJA gets a pitch off. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

Another 32-4A Title. Jessy Cadena of Mer-cedes led her team to the 32-4A title in 2008. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

Gas. Breakfast Tacos. Great Service. Open 7-Days Rio Grande Valley Locations

More Sports.More Tacos.

More Smiles.

Get’em at the Counter!


T H E P I T C H E R S A N D C A T C H E S .

Drops ball. Shortstop Kezia Ca-brera of Sharyland drops a fly ball. The Lady Rattlers ended their season with a loss to PSJA North in the Class 5A Area play-offs. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


Got’cha. The Edcouch-Elsa Yel-lowjackets missed the playoffs in 2008. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


R G V B A S E B A L L A N D S L I D E S .

No State Playoffs in 2008. The Harlingen South Hawks missed the playoffs after advancing to the State 5A title game in 2007. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)



R U N N I N G C R O S S C O U N T R Y .

Cross Country Runners. Teams from across the Val-ley run in the early morning hours. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

In Cross-Country, runners begin their races early in the dawn hours but races like these do not bother runners like Mercedes H.S. Alex De La Garza who brought home the Silver Medal with a time of 15:23.00 at the Class 4A Cross-Country Cham-pionships while Donna High School’s Richard Rubio placed 18th at the State 5A Cross-Coun-try Meet held in Round Rock, Texas to lead the Valley. McAllen Memo-rial’s Tricia Terry fin-ished ninth overall. PSJA North’s Ann Mora led the Lady Raiders with a 34th finish as they would cap-tured 10th place in team standings.


TheDreamsPlayers dream about playing college sports, so they worker harder to achieve“


TheDreamsPlayers dream about playing college sports, so they worker harder to achieve

“

David A. Amador-HSSM Sports Director

Many high school athletes dream about playing at the next level, whether college or professional sports. Dreams begin to come alive with self-determination and most importantly, parental support. These dreams have come true for basketball standout Ricky Masso, formerly of McAllen Memorial High School. He now plays for the St. Edwards Basketball team in Austin as a walk-on. His brother Mark, a graduating senior from McAllen Memorial wants to follow in his same footsteps too. “I am just proud. Too proud to actually say how I really feel about

Ricky making the team as a walk on,” says their father Mr. Masso. “He was determined to make the team and now I hope that many other players who dream about playing at this level follow their dreams too,” he added. Ricky, only 5’8” made the squad at St. Edwards this past season and played throughout the season coming off the bench. As for the younger brother, Mark had a successful year at Memorial leading the 30-5A District in assists in 2007-08 and now finds himself dreaming about playing col-lege with no scholarship offers like his brother.


Rattler Defense. The Sharyland Rattlers made the playoffs in 2008. They would end their season in the first round to Laredo Nixon 78-68.(HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


G R E A T D E F E N S E A N D S W E E T S I X T E E N S.

HSSM Basketball Player of the Year in 2008. McAllen High School sophomore J.J. Avila captured top honors as he led his team to the State 5A Regional Semi-finals against SA Wagner where they lost 93-64. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

48 High School Sports Magazine Photograph by HSSMImages

State 5A Region IV Semifinals. The Edinburg Bobcats played San Antonio Madison in the regional semifinals and ended their season with a 72-65 loss. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)



T O O T A L L A N D P R O U D.

Too Tall and Too Sweet. The McAllen H.S. Lady Bulldogs made it to the Class 5A Region IV Basketball Semifinals in 2008 and played San Antonio Wagner. The Lady Bulldogs lost 65-43 after posting a great season. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)


Class 5A Region IV Tour-nament. The Harlingen South Lady Hawks bas-ketball team advanced to the regional semifinals in 2008 and played San An-tonio Madison. The Lady Hawks lost 72-51. (HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

TheCoachesCoaches are more than just educators, they become inspirations to players“


TheCoacheswww.hssmonline.net

Coaches are more than just educators, they become inspirations to playersDavid A. Amador-HSSM Sports Director

Great Mentors. Longtime head coaches Roy Garcia of San Benito, Alan Cherry of Harlingen South, and Robert Capello of Ed-couch-Elsa.(Exclusive HSSM IMages/David A. Amador)

“

In 2007-08 many head coaches watched their teams win and lose. HSSM also lost a great friend, Robert Vela to cancer too. Eitherway, HSSM captured these mon-ments that showed why coaches keep coming back to the sidelines, courtsides, and track fields. Teams like San Benito, Harlingen South, and Edcouch-Elsa advanced to the state playoffs looking for a state title. Only La Joya, Weslaco, McAllen, Los Fresnos, Harlingen South, and Santa Rosa almost made it. In the process, football teams like Edin-burg, Valley View, and Roma struggled throughout the season looking for prog-ress. Weslaco East did the unthinkable in 2007 by making the playoffs for the first time in school history, while sister school, Weslaco H.S. hosted its first-ever Class 5A Division II Regional Quarter-finals at Bobby Lackey Stadium before some 12,000 against San Antonio Madi-son. The Panthers also watched Mishak Rivas surpass the single season rushing mark of 3,000 yards. HSSM takes you back to these coaching moments in 2007-08.



HSSM Football Coach of the Year Weslaco H.S. Tony Villarreal . (HSSM IMages)

HSSM Softball Coach of the Year PSJA North H.S. Johnny Medrano. (HSSM IMages)


H S S M C O A C H E S O F T H E Y E A R

HSSM Boy’s Basketball Coach of the Year McAllen H.S. Roy Swift. (HSSM IMages)

HSSM Girl’s Basketball Coach of the Year Harlingen South H.S. Dawn Engleman. (HSSM IMages)


Top Spikers. HSSM’s Vol-leyball Coach of the Year Steve Lunsford of Harlin-gen South H.S.. (HSSM/Images)

A True Champion. HSSM’s Baseball Coach of the Year Eliseo Pompa of McAllen H.S.. (HSSM/Images)


H S S M C O A C H E S O F T H E Y E A R.

Undefeated Season. HSSM’s 30-5A Coach of the Year Manny Moreno led the Donna Redskins to the Class 5A Division I Area Finals in his first year. (HSSM/Images)


S C H O O L

P E E D

Sports Performance Training

956.968.5096

FootballBasketballBaseballSoftball

Volleyball

Get the ULTIMATE in Sports Training

Now Accepting High School Athletes for Off-Season Training/Conditioning

310 West Expressway 83 Weslaco, Texas 78596

The Largest In-Door Training Facilities in South Texaswith Indoor Track and Field Turf

Tough Losses


T H E G A M E S. T H E H U G S. T H E L O S S E S.

All Smiles. This wres-tler from La Joya H.S. took time to smile as he pinned his opponent at the La Joya Wrestling In-vitational. (HSSM IMages)

Tough LossesIn Every Game, There are Winners and Losers...

The hardest part high school athletes endure are the tough losses that come with the victories. The emotions that follow each game are speechless, especially when coaches are trying to comfort their own players. Players find themselves looking for someone to cling to for support as the other team celebrates in victory. The football game between Edcouch-Elsa and Mission Veterans was just an exam-ple of how one team fought, not just to win, but to make the playoffs as well. The Pa-triots would fall in the end. At the Class 5A Girl’s Re-gional Semifinals basketball game between San Antonio Wagner and McAllen High School, the Lady Bulldogs were just steps away from advancing to the state tour-nament. Wagner would de-feat the Valley team 65-43 and then they would shut down SA Madison to make it to the Class 5A tournament. HSSM captured some of these moments in 2007-08.

No Super Bowl. The Mis-sion Veterans Memorial Patriots fell short of mak-ing the Class 4A playoffs with their loss to Ed-couch-Elsa . (HSSM IMages)


Bear Hugs. The PSJA Bears ended their season with a loss in the Class 5A Division I Area round to La Joya 17-28 playoffs. Despite the frigid weather, Justin Vil-lanueva and Anthony Carrizales managed to comfort each other after the game. (HSSM IMages)


Tough Year. The Edinburg Economedes Jaguars lost two of their final three games to miss the playoffs again. (HSSM IMages)


A Daddy’s Love. Rebecca Valdez finds comfort with her father Robert after the McAllen Lady Bulldog’s loss in the State 5A Region IV Semifinals basketball game. (HSSM IMages)


A B U L L D O G BA T T L E L O S T

Still Number One. The Edinburg North Cougars baseball team show their pride despite losing to Weslaco in the state playoffs. (HSSM IMages)

A True Warrior. McHi Offensive linemen Tino Hong watches from the sidelines as his team lost in the State 5A Region IV area play-offs to Weslaco. (HSSM IMages)

GreatestMoments


Hole In One. McAllen Memorial’s Frankie Gon-zales holds his ball that went in at the No.7 Par 3 at the 30-5A Dis-trict Golf Championships. (HSSM IMages)

GreatestMomentsThose who dared

to achieve, found VICTORY at everylevel in 2008.

Perhaps the biggest achievements high school athletes can accomplish are for those who work hard in the class-

room and practice long hours in every sport they participate and sometimes with luck, their greatest moments are achieved. In 2008, we had many prep school-ers who did just that like McAllen Memorial’s Frankie Gonzales. At the 30-5A District Golf Championships at Martin Valley Golf Course he nailed a six-iron from about 165 yards uphill and watched his ball disappear some-where around the green. “My ball just disappeared and when I approached the green on Hole No. 7 it was nowhere to be found. Then I looked in the hole and there it was; this was great,” said the Mustang golfer. In baseball, McAllen High School found themselves down 0-1 in the best of three series in the Class 5A Base-ball Regional Quarterfinals against La Joya. They would come back and win the next two games to advance to the regional semifinals. Then it happened. Sharyland’s Ale Cantu surprised the field at the Class 5A Region IV Golf Championships by winning the title along with her team, who also advanced to the state cham-pionships. These are the moments. The greatest moments captured in 2008.

GreatestMoments

L E A P I N G H E I G H T S T O V I C T O R Y


Two-Time Class 5A Region IV Quarterfinal Champions. The McAllen H.S. baseball team defeated La Joya H.S. in come-from-behindvictories 1-9,1-0, 6-2. (HSSM IMages)

GreatestMoments


Class 5A Golf Finalists! The Sharyland Girls Golf team advanced to the state championships in 2008. Pictured l-r are Ana Choi, Alejandra Valdez, Ale Cantu, Lisa Garza, and Samantha Garcia. (HSSM IMages)


M E D A L S A N D T A R P O N S E A W A L L V I C T O R Y

Port Isabel Tarpons Win! Players celebrate their win over the La Feria Lions in 2007. The Tarpons also won the Class 3A Bi-District titleover Raymondville 28-7. (HSSM IMages)


Battle of the Arroyo Ti-tle! Under the lights, the San Benito Greyhounds defeated Harlingen in their annual match up. This is what they play for every season. (HSSM IMages)


H A R D B A T T L E S F O U G H T F O R T H E P R I Z E.

Three-Time Defending Champions! The PSJA North Lady Raiders cap-tured their third straight Class 5A Area title in 2008 with a victory over Shary-land in three games. (HSSM IMages)

Have It

OPEN LATE!Hartrmi 2007

Participating RGV Locations7411 Padre Island Blvd-Brownsville 831-71613100 Boca Chica Blvd-Brownsville 544-4300

1300 Central Blvd-Brownsville 544-54753235 International Blvd-Brownsville 982-3945

1912 W. Tyler-Harlingen 428-7169601 South Sam Houston -San Benito 361-9797

1102 North Main -La Feria 797-9546419 1/2 S. International -Weslaco 447-8868

1617 N. Texas -Weslaco 968-3747 1702 W. University Drive -Edinburg 318-5130

4006 S. McColl -Edinburg 664-91422313 Military Hwy -McAllen 618-5030

2120 N. La Homa Rd -Palmview 584-0125688 East Exp 83 -La Joya 583-2325

1100 E. Main -Rio Grande City 488-1402390 East Grant -Roma 849-5806 Your

Way!

Date post:	25-Mar-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	david-amador
View:	220 times
Download:	6 times

HIgh School Sports Magazine-June 2008 Issue

Documents