Rich, Rankin, Pixle PHS Hall of Fame inductees

This is the second in a series of stories about the 2018 inductees for the Porterville High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Two of Porterville High School’s most successful coaches — Rich Rankin and Diane Rankin, who left their mark as PHS athletes as well — and one of its track and field stars — Todd Pixler — are being inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 28, at the Porterville Veterans Building.

Tickets for the induction ceremony are now on sale at Porterville’s activities window with the cost being $50 per ticket or $300 for a table of eight. The event will begin at 5 p.m. with a social hour, followed by dinner at 6 p.m. and the program at 7 p.m. No tickets will be sold at the door.

This year’s inductees will be: Shane Snow (football, basketball), Jennifer Borror (water polo, basketball, soccer, track), Todd Pixler (track), Julie Botts (swimming) and the 2003 Valley champion girls basketball team. Former coaches Rich Rankin and Diane Rankin will also be inducted. Rich Rankin was also a basketball player and is now the Porterville Unified School District’s athletic director.

is a 1978 PHS graduate. Rich played four years of basketball while at PHS. In 1978, Rich was the team and league Most Valuable Player for PHS. He still holds the school record for assists in a season for PHS.

After PHS Rich went on to play at Porterville College and led the conference in assists and free throw percentage. He set a school record for assists in 1980 and was the team MVP and an all-conference selection.

He then went to Fresno Pacific University and played two years to finish his career. He left FPU with the third-most assists and second-highest free throw percentage in school history.

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