McALLEN — Coach Tony Trejo, a name synonymous with Rio Grande Valley track and field, died Monday after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 67 years old.
Trejo, who served as track and field head coach at Edcouch-Elsa, McAllen Memorial, Lyford and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln in addition to his role running McAllen Parks and Recreation’s track and field program, was also a pivotal figure as a track and field official across the Valley.
“He’s a legend here in the Valley. You mention track and field, you’re talking Tony Trejo; it just goes together,” said Armando Gomez, a longtime friend of Trejo as both a coach and track and field official. “He’ll be remembered as a hard-working person who always found a way to provide services for all the school districts. He did things from his heart.”
Trejo graduated from Edinburg High in 1974 and Pan American in Edinburg before beginning his career in teaching, coaching and officiating across the Valley and state.
Despite battling cancer the last four years, Trejo remained active as a substitute teacher and track and field official while helping McAllen parks and rec’s summer track and field program.
Trejo’s son, Jesse, is a cross-country and track and field coach at McAllen Memorial, the same place his father spent the majority of his coaching career.
“He was a great person, very-giving and selfless,” Jesse Trejo said. “I remember him first as my dad. Most importantly, he taught us the value of hard work and perseverance as a father growing up and it translated to us as adults and his grandkids. He helped me in my coaching career and it’s going to be hard without him going forward. His passion was working with kids from the Valley, it didn’t matter what color you wore or what city you were from. He tried to impact everyone.”
He worked as an official at this year’s Texas Relays in March at Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, the state’s most popular track and field event outside of the UIL state championships. He then attended the 2022 UIL state championship meet in May.
Last year, Trejo served as the starter at the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation’s 2021 Summer Games of Texas in Corpus Christi, an organization that has ballooned in numbers thanks to Trejo’s contributions.
“I felt that he wanted to get into the Texas Relays because it’s a big honor to get invited to one of those. He was so proud of that and the tag you get with your name and the Texas Longhorns logo,” said David Vasquez, Trejo’s friend and former coach at La Feria and superintendent at Santa Rosa. “He was a fighter. He didn’t want to quit.”
“He’ll be remembered as a good man, an honest and hard-working person. I am blessed to have met him and to know him that long,” Gomez said, fighting back tears.
