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Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame
 
 

RGV Sports Hall announces 7 inductees for Class of 2024 and five teams into the Team Hall of Honor.

By Mark May, RGVSHOF Board Member

Seven inductees have been selected for the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

This year’s class includes four women and three men. They are Shelly Duffey of Edinburg, Jesse Gutierrez of McAllen, Bert Lozano of Mission, Magda Canales of McAllen, Michelle Denise Martin of Edinburg, Darbie Bruning of Brownsville and Sam Ayoub of San Benito.

The group includes four athletes, one coach, one trainer and one game official. All will be inducted at the 36th annual RGV Sports Hall of Fame banquet on Saturday, July 13 at the Mission Events Center.

“We are proud to honor this outstanding group of individuals for our Class of 2024” RGV Sports Hall of Fame President Gus Torres said. “Each one excelled in their sport and now their achievements will be immortalized by enshrinement into the Hall of Fame.”   

In addition to the individuals, the RGV Sports Hall of Fame will recognize two teams for its Hall of Honor; these are the 1974 Mercedes Tigers baseball team and the 1966-68 Raymondville Bearkats girls basketball team.

Duffey was a multi-sport star at Edinburg North High in the 1990s. She was All-Valley Most Valuable Player in both volleyball and basketball, making All-State in basketball as a senior. In college at St. Edward’s University, she was a four-year starter and earned All-Conference recognition.

Gutierrez played baseball for James “Nikki” Rowe High in McAllen and the University of Texas-Pan American before being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2001. As a Bronc, Gutierrez hit 21 home runs and was named an NCAA All-American. He later transferred to St. Mary’s University, helping the Rattlers to their first NCAA Division II national title in 2001.

Baseball is also the forte of Lozano whose umpiring career spans more than 50 years. He has served as an umpire at the NCAA Division I level and called multiple UIL regional championship games and two UIL state baseball tournaments. He is the longest tenured umpire in Texas.   

Coach Canales has coached volleyball at McAllen Rowe High for 18 years, taking her teams to the playoffs 16 times. Under her watch, the green and gold have won four district titles in a highly competitive district, six Area championships and advanced to the Regional Tournament five times. She has won 472 matches overall and, in district play, has a winning percentage of nearly 78 percent (176-50).

Martin, a former Edinburg Bobcat and All-Valley MVP, still owns several basketball records from her time at the University of Texas-San Antonio (1989-93). She is in the career top 10 in scoring, rebounding and steals for the Roadrunners’ program. She later played pro basketball and became an Athletic Director for 15 years.

Bruning excelled in volleyball, basketball and track at Brownsville Hanna High in the early 1980s. She was the state high jump champion in 1983. At Southwest Texas State (now Texas State), she twice earned All-Conference in volleyball and was All-Conference three times in track where she won Gulf Star Conference individual titles in heptathlon, javelin and high jump. Bruning was named the conference’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1986 and 1987.

Ayoub, a 1954 San Benito High graduate, spent 40 years in pro baseball and worked more than 6,000 games as a trainer at either the minor league or major league level. He started out with the Milwaukee Braves Organization in the early 1960s (the team moved to Atlanta in 1966). He was named Minor League Trainer of the Year in 1991 before retiring in 2000.  

This year’s class will bring the Hall of Fame’s total membership to 297.

The RGV Sports Hall of Fame also has a Hall of Honor which is for teams that excelled at the highest level of sports winning championships and making deep runs in the UIL state playoffs. The RGV Sports Hall of Fame will honor the 1974 Mercedes Tigers which went 21-4 and advanced to the Class 3A state championship game in baseball. The Lady Bearkats from Raymondville who advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals in girls basketball for three consecutive years (1966-68). The Lyford Lady Bulldogs will also enter the Team Hall of Honor, the team advanced to the state semi-finals in girls basketball in 1974.

Founded in 1985, the RGV Sports Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization whose mission it is to recognize men and women who have brought honor and recognition to the Rio Grande Valley through their participation in sports as an athlete, coach, official, trainer, journalist or other sports-related position.

 
 

 Your Hall of Fame

The RGV Sports Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization whose mission it is to recognize men and women who have brought honor and recognition to the Rio Grande Valley through their participation in sports as an athlete, coach, official, trainer, journalist or other sports-related position.

The RGV Sports Hall of Fame collects, preserves and exhibits memorabilia and statistical data of Rio Grande Valley sports for historical preservation, database collection, and enjoyment.

Some memorabilia is housed at Doubleday’s Bar and Grill’s museum in Port Isabel. We are working with cities, businesses and individuals in the Rio Grande Valley to partner with us so that the Valley can have a permanent museum that we can all be proud of.