Athletics History 1 of 2

E6 | Sunday, April 12, 2020 | lmtonline.com | Laredo Morning Times 50th Anniversary ference player but only earned first- team honors once in 2017, also earn- ing first-team honors for the region the same year. She is one of four players in school history to be on a conference first-team list including Heather Pace in 2004 and Karina Garcia and Valeria Jaramillo in 2012. VOLLEYBALL TAMIU volleyball was the next sport to start in 2002 as the school had a stacked fall slate early on. And right out of the gate, it looked like that may have been the program that was going to carry the flag for the school in athletics. Instead, it’s struggled since its NAIA beginning. TAMIU volleyball didn’t just win its first game of all-time in straight sets on Aug. 31, 2002 at Sul Ross State, it actually kicked off its exis- tence winning its first seven games and 21 of its first 22. Captained by head coach Albino “Binny” Canales, the group put together an impressive 23-6 inaugural season. Overall, Canales led the school to an impressive 92-35 record in his four seasons after coming to TAMIU from nearby Laredo College – the best overall win percentage from any coach in school history. However, he rejoined the Palominos in 2006 prior to TAMIU jumping up to the NCAA’s Division II level. “My time at TAMIU was very special with a talented staff who I still call my friends,” Canales said. “I still look at my teams’ players and assistant coaches there as an inspiration that helped me grow as a coach. Many have also become coaches, and I find myself having conversations with them about cur- rent teams.” Canales’ loss proved to be a hur- dle the program has yet to be able to recover from. Over the following 14 seasons, the school has only had two winning seasons, and one was the first year Canales was gone as Wendy McManus was 24-5 in 2006 before finishing her five years with a 48-100 record. Other coaches over that time in- cluded Al Givens (14-18) in 2011 – who won the Heartland’s Coach of the Year award – Marlon Sano (23- 57) from 2012-14, Susie Jangada (18-81) from 2015-18 and Brittany Harry (6-19) in 2019. Another former LC coach, Harry’s six-win campaign this past season was their most since 2015 as she leads the way into 2020 trying to get the Dustdevils into the conference tournament for the first time since 2012. In 2005, Xochitl Garza earned the school’s lone All-American nod in the NAIA. Daria Winckler won Heartland Conference Setter of the Year honors in 2012. MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY The TAMIU cross country teams kicked off a year later in 2003. But they quickly became relevant in the conference as both the men’s and women’s teams took second in both 2003 and 2004, and each had repre- sentatives in the NAIA Champion- ships in two separate years before heading to DII in 2006. Coming over as a coach at Unit- ed Middle School and Memorial Middle School, Benny Rodriguez took over as head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams in 2005 at TAMIU and has been a staple of the program ever since. “I’ve been fortunate to work with a university that supports our pro- Photo by Cuate Santos / Laredo Morning Times The Heartland Conference’s 2012 Setter of the Year in TAMIU’s Daria Winckler in 2011.