Eight individuals will join the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.

The class includes Anyssa Olivarez Woods and Sonia Trevino, both from Mission, McAllen Memorial golf coach Celso Gonzalez, McAllen High girls soccer coach Patrick Arney, Joe Pena from PSJA, Pablo Almaguer from Weslaco, Robert Mangum from Edinburg and Toby Nivens from McAllen High.

Several teams are also being honored. That includes five Brownsville Pace cross country teams, the 1991 La Villa and Mission state champion girls cross country teams and the 1986 Mercedes baseball team that finished as state runner-up.

Almaguer is the current Weslaco cross country and track head coach. He graduated from Weslaco High School in 1995 and returned to coach both sports, leading the program to multiple district and area championships and 8 state meet appearances.

"It's just all the work I look back at the past of all the work it's been done since I first started and it's just like a feeling of relief that all has been recognized finally," Almaguer said.

Toby Nivens graduated from McAllen High in 1985. He won 42 games for the Bulldogs and ranked No. 12 in the country according to Baseball America. Nivens went on to play nine years of professional baseball with the Minnesota Twins, New York Mets and Texas Rangers organizations.

"It means a lot because four other guys that coached me and mentored me through the six years that I played in McAllen you know pony and colt league they all have been inducted before me so it makes it extra special for me," Nivens said.

The ceremony also includes 14 scholarship recipients from the RGV.

The seven female recipients are Estrella Garcia, Chalene Granado, Itzel Garcia, Sophia Jimenez, Kennedy Kaiser, Julissa Lopez and Lisa Rodriguez. Kaiser, one of the top athletes in The Valley, signed to play soccer at Oklahoma.

The seven male recipients are Brandon Acosta, Dante Flores, Brenden Kromer, Ricardo Perez, Kai Tamez, Leon Villarreal and Miguel Maynez. Tamez signed to play college golf and Perez signed to play college baseball.