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Nine individuals and two teams were recognized at Sul Ross State University's annual Hall of Honor/Distinguished Alumni banquet, held Saturday evening (Feb. 20) in the Morgan University Center.
               
Honorees included: Dr. Bart Pate, Fort Worth, and Dr. Oscar Ybarra, Ann Arbor, MI, Distinguished Alumni Awards; Jason Hennington, Pflugerville, Distinguished Young Alumnus; Humberto "Beto" Hinojosa, Odem, Slingin' Sammy Baugh Award for Outstanding Service; Athletic Hall of Honor inductees Javier Arrieta, El Paso; Henry Paige, Edinburg; B.R. "Poppy" Rodriguez, McAllen; and the 1969-70 and 1970-71 women's volleyball national championship teams.

In addition, Baldemar Garza, Rio Grande City, Alumni Association president, presented a new award to Brad Carter, Midland, as Outstanding Advisory Board member. Garza introduced the award in recognition of exemplary volunteer service and dedication to Sul Ross.

Since its inception in 1986, the Sul Ross Hall of Honor has inducted 129 individuals and two teams. Sul Ross has recognized 63 Distinguished Alumni and three Distinguished Young Alumni since 1981. Eighteen persons, beginning with the legendary Sammy Baugh, have received the Slingin' Sammy Baugh Award for Outstanding Service since 2002.       

About the honorees:

Paige, who received a B.S. in Kinesiology (1986), earned NAIA All-American honors as a kick return specialist (1982) and cornerback (1983) for the Lobo football team. The Sebastian native helped Sul Ross post a 19-2 won-lost record during the 1981 and 1982 campaigns, and was a three-time All-TIAA (Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association) selection (1981-83).
               
He was nationally ranked in punt and kickoff returns in 1982 and during his career, helped anchor a tenacious defense. Paige owns Henry's Hay in Edinburg.

Rodriguez came to Sul Ross after a stellar high school career at PSJA High School. The Pharr native was the second-leading receiver on the 1965 NAIA playoff team and helped the Lobos to post 23 wins in his final three seasons.

Rodriguez, who received a B.S. degree (1967) from Sul Ross and a Master's degree (1974) from the University of Texas at Austin, was a triple threat in rushing, receiving and returning kicks during his Lobo career.

After graduation, he had a 44-year career as a teacher, coach and athletic director at Beeville, Taft and McAllen ISD. Rodriguez was inducted into the Texas High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.

Arrieta, a 2011 Sul Ross graduate (B.S., Kinesiology), set a number of records during a stellar four-year baseball career. He batted .404 during a 144-game collegiate career, amassed 222 hits, including 46 doubles, eight triples and 36 home runs, scored 141 runs, drove home 145 and stole 53 bases.

The El Paso native earned First Team American Southwest Conference postseason honors three of his four years. Other honors include Conference Player of the Year (2009), second team All-American (2009), and Pre-Season All- American (2010).  He was also selected as American Southwest Conference Hitter of the Week three separate times.

Back-to-back national titles put Sul Ross on the map in the infancy of Lady Lobo volleyball. The 1969-70 and 1970-71 teams won the first two Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national championships. (The AWAI governed women's sports prior to NCAA recognition.)

Sul Ross State defeated UCLA and Long Beach State, respectively, in the championship matches. In addition, The 1969-70 team posted a perfect 3-0 record during the national tournament held in April 1970 in Long Beach, CA. Sul Ross defeated UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State and UCLA in successive matches. The following year, the Lady Lobos competed at Lawrence, KS, sweeping Texas Women's University, Oregon and Long Beach State for a second title.                                         

               
Pate, who attended Sul Ross from 1961-63, presently maintains a family practice and teaches residents in family medicine at John Peter Smith Hospital, Fort Worth.  He is also the director of Rural Track and Utilization Management for the hospital. He moved with his family to Alpine from Sanderson in 1955 and graduated from Alpine High School in 1961.

He earned his medical degree (1968) at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, and completed his residency at R.E. Thomason Hospital, El Paso. After serving in the U.S. Army in Korea and later at Beaumont Army Hospital, he returned to Alpine in 1971 to practice with his father, Dr. John Pate. He served as the Sul Ross physician for several years during the 1970s and 1980s, then moved to Fort Worth in 1990 to teach family medicine residents at John Peter Smith Hospital, where he still works.
               
Ybarra, an Alpine native, is a professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He also is Director of Innovate Blue, which developed Michigan's campus-wide minor on entrepreneurship. He received a B.A. in Psychology (1988) and M.A. in Public Administration (1990) from Sul Ross and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology (1996) from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
               
His research revolves around the social underpinnings of cognition and intelligence, how people navigate their web of relations with others, and how people balance connecting socially with the need to pursue and protect other valued goals. Ybarra's research has been published in the top journals in the field, and his work on social judgment has been used in presentations before congressional hearings on aging and fraud. His parents, Manuel and Flora Ybarra, still live in Alpine.
               
Hennington is presently the managing editor of the Taylor Press in his hometown. He received a B.A. in Communication (2004) and M.A. (2006) in Liberal Arts from Sul Ross, and also worked as a news writer/photographer in the office of News and Publications for eight years.
               
He began work at the Taylor Press as a reporter-photographer, and in 2014, was named the first African American editor of the publication. In addition, Hennington has been active in the community, starting an annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament that helps to raise money for scholarships for college-bound students; volunteers for Meals on Wheels; and played an integral role in helping the City of Taylor raise money to assist area flood victims. He also worked with the family of legendary rodeo cowboy Bill Pickett in promoting his legacy, which included the reading of a resolution on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives.

Hinojosa, an oil field sales representative with C&S Wireline, Corpus Christi, received a B.S. in Animal Science (1988) from Sul Ross. He was a member of the Sul Ross Rodeo team and has continued to compete as a roper. In 1990, he was named the PRCA Texas Circuit champion heeler.
               
He is a founding member of the South Texas Alumni and Friends of Sul Ross and has served as chapter president since 2009. As a principal volunteer within the association, he has helped to organize the annual golf tournament, which raises funds to sponsor recruiting trips for prospective students to the Sul Ross campus. In addition, the association's fund-raising efforts have also provided numerous Sul Ross scholarships.