Since the polls on rgvsports.com more often than not leave a lot to be desired, for the 10 or so people that might periodically check todd’s take when it’s not football season let’s see if we can drum up some interest by coming up with some candidates for the best athlete in the Rio Grande Valley (2007-08 school year).
Mind you, I only cover football and golf and tennis in the scholastic ranks (although I do take phone-in box scores most every Tuesday and Friday night. I’m known to my friends as Mr. Late Page), so my thinking might not be entirely big picture but I have a little knowledge. Enough to write a blog, anyway.
Nevertheless, here’s a couple of names I’ve come up with, none of whom are my choice (you’ll have to read to the end or just scroll to the bottom now:
>> Mishak Rivas, Weslaco High football
An obvious choice for his superlatives on the field this season: 3,300 yards rushing and a million touchdowns are hard to argue with. Weslaco played in the district I covered when Rivas was a freshman, and it was obvious then that he was going to be something special. I don’t know that anyone could have seen him breaking every major area rushing record, but that’s exactly what he did. Incredible.
>> Bianca Torre, Harlingen South girls basketball and Andi Garza, McAllen High girls basketball
I can’t include one without the other if I don’t want to catch the scorn of all of the story commenters on this site and some guy named Elizondo that calls the office periodically to berate Peter Rasmussen. Torre had over 10 steals a game among her other highlights, and Garza provided McAllen High with a power double-double most every game.
>> Neo Sanchez, PSJA North boys basketball
McAllen High’s J.J. Avila is also a strong choice, but it’s not every day that someone from the area is nominated to play in the McDonald’s All-America game as Sanchez was recently.
Finally, my choice. Drum roll please ….
>> Felicia Espericueta, Edinburg North golf
I dare you to find someone who has accomplished more on the high school level and is only a junior. She won the regional golf tournament as a freshman and advanced to state. She was squeezed out of a state berth as a sophomore last year and is playing with a renewed vigor this season. She has won all six of the tournaments she’s played in 2007-08, many of which are out-of-the-Valley against some of the best competition in the state.
Espericueta is already getting boxes of mail from college recruiters and will be playing golf at a major Division I university (not UTPA) in 2009. I would be shocked if she doesn’t win at least one Class 5A title before she’s done. I followed her in a cart with then Edinburg North coach Hector Guerra for the two rounds of the 2007 Region IV tournament and what struck me most was the poise she showed as a sophomore. A couple of bad holes that featured a lip-out or two tripped her up, costing her a state berth by one stroke. I don’t expect that to happen again.
What I do expect is to see her on the LPGA Tour in a few years. Pretty high expectations, for sure. But I think Espericueta can live up to them.
So again, here’s the list I came up with for the Valley’s athlete of the year:
>> Mishak Rivas, Weslaco High football
>> Bianca Torre, Harlingen South girls basketball
>> Andi Garza, McAllen High girls basketball
>> Neo Sanchez, PSJA North boys basketball
>> Felicia Espericueta, Edinburg North girls golf
Shoot me a comment with your choice. If it’s one of the ones I listed, great. If it’s someone else, that’s good too. I’ll post all of your comments and maybe this could become a true poll question before the end of the year. And Elizondo, Peter is waiting for your call.
It is sad to see how UTPA is put in this article as a place not to go for this young lady. The University of Texas Pan American Golf Team has grown alot throughout this past year where they are ranked 136 on Golf Stats and will continue to improve. DO NOT think because the school is in the Rio Grade Valley that it does not have potential. They are ranked above many other teams in the Nation that are Big Division 1 schools. So next time I would like you to reconsider what is said about UTPA and not put down a school that is working hard to achieve their goals.
Marissa,
I would have to agree with your comment. UTPA was ranked 195 at the beginning of August and when the new Coach was hired the whole program changed. I have run into the UTPA Women’s Golf Team several times and each time they have been practicing and working hard. UTPA is a Program that seems to be on the right track and heading towards great things. Having people around the Rio Grand Valley that think UTPA is not a BIG DIVISION I college or program disgusts me. If you see the moves and the steps that the program has taken you would know that. So next time you cut down UTPA please leave the Women’s Golf program out of it because they are beating some of the “TOP” Universities around!
Heidi and Marissa,
No offense, although you apparently took offense, but UTPA is not a top Division I program for intercollegiate athletics. Espericueta gave me her list of potential schools and she’s looking at top 25 programs.
Also, it’s Rio Grande Valley. Thanks for reading and commenting.