Texas Border Business
EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Athletics Hall of Fame Committee announced on Tuesday the 2020 Athletics Hall of Fame class, which includes the 1989 women’s tennis team, former men’s tennis student-athlete Michel Fabry, former men’s basketball student-athlete Paul Friddle, former Track & Field/Cross Country student-athlete Westly Keating, former men’s basketball student-athlete Bruce “Sky” King, and former baseball student-athleteAndre Rabouin. The committee also announced that award-winning sportswriter Pablo A. “Pikey” Rodriguez Jr. has earned induction into the Hall of Honor.
The Athletics Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor induction luncheon will take place in the UTRGV Ballroom on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 11 a.m.
Space is limited and those planning to attend are asked to RSVP in advance by contacting UTRGV Associate Athletic Director for Communications Jonah Goldberg at (956) 665-2240 or jonah.goldberg@utrgv.edu.
1989 Women’s Tennis Team
American South Conference Champions … First conference championship in program history and only one until 2016 … Went 11-6 and undefeated in conference play (3-0) … Won 60.4% of singles matches and 67.7% of doubles matches … Barbara (Barrera) Gonzales and Gail (MacIsaac) Illingworth teamed to win a then program record 17 doubles matches (now tied for third most for a doubles duo) … Gonzales also won 17 singles matches for 34 total wins, tying her own program record (now tied for fifth). Three of the four winningest players in program history were on that team, including Hall of Famer Leah (Viloria) Hampton (109), Gonzales (107) and Mary Jane (Mayer) Hetrick (107).
“For us as a team, we always strived to be the best that we could possibly be to represent the university and the Rio Grande Valley,” Gonzales said. “To get acknowledged by the university that we are among the best and to be inducted with such phenomenal athletes truly is a reeam come true. It really validates all the hard work we put in as a team. That year we came together and said we were going to win conference. We believe it. We practiced that way. Coach Cross pushed us because he believed that we could do that. When we accomplished that goal, it was so rewarding. We’re over the moon with joy. We’re so proud and so happy that we can come back as a family.”
Roster
Kim Butler
Barbara (Barrera) Gonzales
Leah (Viloria) Hampton
Gail (MacIsaac) Illingworth
Dr. Mary Jane (Mayer) Hetrick
Chris Reetz
Tania Webster
Head Coach: David Cross
Assistant Coach: Zia Kahn
Michel Fabry, Men’s Tennis, 1990-93
Holds program records in career wins (189) and singles wins (105) while ranking second in doubles wins (84) … Holds program records in single-season wins (60 in 1993), singles wins (33 in 1991) and doubles wins (30 in 1993) … Recorded the third most and fourth most overall wins in a season with 57 in 1991 and 52 in 1991 … Posted the third most singles wins in a season with 30 in 1992 and 1993 … Finished with the third and fifth most doubles wins in a season with 24 in 1991 and 22 in 1992 … All-Sun Belt Conference Singles and Doubles Teams, Sun Belt Conference Tournament MVP and UTPA Student-Athlete of the Year in 1992-93.
“I am honored to know that the efforts I put forward to represent my team, my coach and my school did not go unnoticed,” Fabry said. “It is very nice to be remembered in the history books. Tennis is an individual sport but our coach made it a team. I am thankful for the honor and recognition.”
Paul Friddle, Men’s Basketball, 1957-63
Co-captain and starting point guard on 1963 NAIA Championship Team … Set program assists record with 601 career assists (currently ranks third) … Big State Conference All-Freshman Team honoree in 1957-58 … First recipient of Lou Hassell Award (1963).
“To be honest, I never thought this would happen,” Friddle said. “We are talking about 57 years ago and there are not that many still around to remember those days. I didn’t average that many points, but I’m sure the assists came into play. I tell people I was a point guard before the term became popular. In today’s game, if teams do not have a good points guard, they are in trouble. I was fortunate to play with three All-Americans in Luke Jackson, Mitch Edwards and Jim McGurk and together, we accomplished great things.
Westly Keating, Track & Field/Cross Country (2002-06)
Cross Country: Three-time NCAA Division I All-American (2002, 2003, 2005) … 2005 South Central Regional Cross Country Runner of the Year … Two-Time National Independent Cross Country Champion (2002 and 2003) … Two-Time Independent Runner of the Year (2002 and 2003) … Two-Time All-Independent Cross Country Team honoree (2002 and 2003) … Three-time All-South Central Region honoree (2002, 2003, 2005) … Three-time UTPA Male Student-Athlete of the Year (2002, 2003, 2005) … Seven-time Independent Runner of the Week … Program record holder in 6k (17:21.1 in 2005), 8k (23:43.0 in 2005) and 10k (29:25.9 in 2003) … Broke 8k record twice and graduated with top three times in program history (now three of top seven) … Currently holds top seven 10k times in program history, breaking the program record five times … Ran the second-fastest four-mile and three of the eight fastest five-mile races in program history.
Indoor Track & Field: Program record holder in 3,000-meter run (8:16.82 in 2003) … Broke program record in 5,000-meter run (14:26.06 in 2003) and currently ranks third … Ran second-fastest mile (4:12.92 in 2006) in program history and currently ranks sixth.
Outdoor Track & Field: Two-Time NCAA Division I National Qualifier and All-American in 10,000-meter run (2003 and 2006) … 2006 USTFCCCA All-American … Program record holder in 3,000-meter run (7:58.87 in 2006), 5,000-meter run (14:09.06 in 2005) and 10,000-meter run (28:24.08 in 2006).
“Being from the Rio Grande Valley, it is a great honor to be inducted into the university’s athletics hall of fame,” Keating said. “Being a track & field and cross country student-athlete didn’t come without its struggles, but representing The University of Texas Pan-American and the Rio Grande Valley at the national level always brought me great pride.”
Bruce “Sky” King, Men’s Basketball, 1973-74
NCAA Division I Honorable Mention All-American in lone season at Pan American … Ranks second in a single season in program history in points per game (31.0), fourth in free throws made (167), fifth in total points (681) and field goals attempted (562), and ninth in field goals made (257) and free throw attempts (212) … Recorded the second, fourth and ninth-highest single-game scoring totals in program history with 55 points vs. Baptist, 49 points vs. Tulsa, and 44 points vs. Oral Roberts, respectively … Ranks third in program history in field goals made and free throws made in a game with 20 and 17, respectively … Physical play allowed him to get to the line as many as 20 times in a game, the second-highest total in program history … Selected in the third round (46thoverall) of the 1974 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Jazz … Passed away on April 15, 2013 at the age of 60.
Andre Rabouin, Baseball, 1969-72
Shut out Harvard in third game of 1971 College World Series … Drafted in 26th round (595thoverall) of 1972 MLB Draft by Cincinnati Reds … Recorded a 0.93 ERA in 1972, the fourth-lowest in program history … Won 20 games in career, then tied for the second-best total and now tied for ninth … Racked up 223 strikeouts, then the third-highest total, now sixth.
“I’m honored to be inducted with so many other great athletes,” Rabouin said. “During the four years that I spent with Coach [Al] Ogletree, he was like a father to me. I enjoyed every minute of it. I also want to thank my teammates. Without them I couldn’t have done anything. I played with some really good ones.”
Hall of Honor
Pablo A. “Pikey” Rodriguez Jr., Sportswriter, 1977-2005
2001 inductee into RGV Sports Hall of Fame … Award-winning sports writer for The Monitor for 35 years … Named Sportswriter of the Year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches in 1987 … Covered thousands of sporting events across the Rio Grande Valley, including Pan American during time at The Monitor … Traveled on the road to cover events, taking part in team radio broadcasts … Helped in recruiting process when Pan American added women’s basketball … Co-founder of RGV Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, which until 2007 was the only way for our alumni to be recognized as we didn’t have a Hall of Fame or Hall of Honor.
“It’s a special honor,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve had outstanding athletes being inducted throughout the years. I feel honored to be among those inductees.”
 Athletics Hall of Fame Committee announced on Tuesday the 2020 Athletics Hall of Fame class, which includes the 1989 women’s tennis team, former men’s tennis student-athlete Michel Fabry, former men’s basketball student-athlete Paul Friddle, former Track & Field/Cross Country student-athlete Westly Keating, former men’s basketball student-athlete Bruce “Sky” King, and former baseball student-athlete Andre Rabouin.){kind=link}