2018 Hall of Fame

Kim (Goodin) Rafanan

Growing up in Porterville, Kim started her athletics by chasing around and trying to compete with her brothers, Tim and Craig. She started playing softball at the age of 8. At Burton Elementary School she was on the girls track, volleyball and basketball teams.  When she graduated from Burton in 1974, she received the Outstanding Female Athlete award.

When Kim came to Monache High School in 1974, Title IX had been recently implemented and many sports were not yet offered to girls. Kim competed in three years of volleyball, and was a varsity co-captain her senior year. During her junior year, Monache started the girls’ basketball program, and Kim excelled and became the team’s most valuable player in both her junior and senior seasons. During her senior year she scored a game-high 29 points, and was a second team All-EYL selection. In her senior year, Monache introduced softball to the sports program, and Kim excelled and became the team’s MVP.

During Kim’s senior basketball season, she was nominated for the Winter Sports Queen, which was indeed an honor. In 1978, she was elected as the first female Sports Commissioner on the student council. When Kim graduated from Monache, she was honored with the Double M Award for the outstanding senior female athlete.

In 1984, Kim Goodin Rafanan was selected as a member of the Monache High School Girls Basketball Hall of Fame.

In 1993, Kim married her soul mate, Tony Rafanan. They moved to Washington State and then to Fallon, Nevada, where Tony finished his 20-year military career.

Kim is now retired from the Department of Homeland Security and lives in Reno Nevada. Kim and Tony are active with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization, and the Boys and Girls Club. They love teaching kids the fundamentals of athletics.

Jesus Guzman 

On June 16, 1964, 11-year-old Jesus Guzman came to “this great country of ours.” Because he had no knowledge of the English language, he was placed in the fourth grade. He went on to learn English on his own by sitting in the back of the class, listening to the teachers, and watching the students react to what the teachers were saying. Like his parents, Jesus was a farm worker for the next 10 years of his life.

Mr. Mills, the principal of Vincent Elementary School at Woodville Labor Camp saw Jesus play different sports and right away noticed his God-given athletic talent and became interested in helping him develop his skills in various sports. He graduated as a salutatorian from Woodville Elementary School and excelled in many sports.

At Monache High School, he participated in cross country for three years, four years in basketball and three years in baseball. For two years, he was most valuable player in cross country. In 1970-71, he was part of the first varsity sport (cross country) to win a league championship (CYL) in the history of Monache athletics. He played four years of basketball, playing three years for the varsity team after playing on the junior varsity squad in his freshman season. He was named most valuable player all three seasons with the varsity team. He earned second-team all-league honors in his sophomore and junior seasons and was named league most valuable player as a senior. The team won the EYL championship in his senior season. As a junior, he was named most valuable player for the junior varsity team in baseball.

After high school, he received his AA degree from Porterville College before earning his bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz and teaching credential from Fresno State.

He taught at Porterville High School for 38 years and coached for 30 years. During his coaching career his teams won 20 EYL Championships at the varsity level, and in 1988, his team won the first girls Valley championship in cross country. His teams at the junior varsity level won 30 EYL championships. He coached cross country, track, soccer, basketball and golf.

Jesus loved to run, and he trained and competed in four marathons. His best time was 2 hours and 45 minutes for an average of 6:18 per mile. His best running experience was competing in the 1990 LA Marathon and coming in 267th out of more than 10,000 runners. His favorite highlight of the LA Marathon, was seeing Muhammad Ali fire the cannon to start the race.

Jim Short 

Jim Short grew up in the small town of Poplar, California. His parents, DeWitt and Billie Short, had migrated during the Dust Bowl era and lived in the Woodville Labor Camp before settling in Poplar. 

Living in Poplar, Jim played outside from daylight till dark. He and his friends swam in the irrigation ditches, kicked field goals over telephone wires, and accidentally broke more windows than he can remember. His first experience with organized sports came at the age of five when he joined Pony League Baseball, which he played at the Woodville Veterans’ Park. 

Jim attended the K-8 school of Pleasant View Elementary, where he has many fond memories. He especially enjoyed the extended lunches which enabled students to practice and compete against similar schools in the Citrus League. Jim was mentored by many great teachers and coaches during those years and counts himself fortunate for those early experiences. 

When Jim entered Monache High School in 1977, his childhood friend Jeff Brown was already blazing the sports trail, so Jim did what Jeff had, and became a three-sport athlete. By his sophomore year, Jim was playing at the varsity level in football, wrestling, and baseball. By his senior year, he was becoming an accomplished athlete and earning recognition in the East Yosemite League and as an All-Valley recipient. He received the Double M Award, or Male Athlete of the Year, that same year. Having been positively influenced by many special men and women at Monache, he aspired to play at the college level. 

Signing with Cal Poly Pomona, he began playing under the famed NFL quarterback, Roman Gabriel.  Jim recalls this being an interesting experience as they tried to meet the demands of Gabriel’s NFL playbook. Jim was named first team all-conference after his sophomore year. When Pomona decided to drop its football program, Short took the initiative to keep on playing and transferred to the University of Nevada. While there, they won the Big Sky Championship under the College Hall of Fame Coach, Chris Ault, and Jim earned many additional individual player awards including Player of the Week against Boise State and the Hammer Award his senior year. Jim also played alongside future NFL players before earning his college degree. 

Jim currently lives just outside of Porterville with his wife, Quinanne. They have three daughters, Devin, Zander, and Bryn, all of whom also graduated from Monache. Jim teaches and coaches at Monache. He was honored to coach Monache’s first state wrestling champion in 2006 and is currently the girls’ wrestling head coach.

Don Townsend 

Don Townsend grew up around wrestling since both of his brothers were wrestlers.  At a young age, Don began competing in freestyle wrestling tournaments, winning a gold medal at the Clovis “Open” Invitational in 1978 as an eighth grader.  He entered Monache High in 1978 being a two-sport athlete in football and wrestling, but as an upperclassman focused his efforts on wrestling. 

While at Monache, Don became one of the more successful wrestlers in Monache’s history.  As a freshman wrestling at the varsity level, he placed fourth in the East Yosemite League and was a Yosemite Divisional Qualifier at 120 pounds. In his sophomore campaign, Don claimed championships in the East Yosemite League and Redwood Tournaments. He finished the year placing fourth at Yosemite Divisionals, fourth at the Valley Championships and was an alternate state qualifier at 138 pounds. 

Don’s junior year proved to be another great one as he earned Championships at the East Yosemite League Tournament, Redwood Tournament and the Bakersfield Quad.  He went on to place third at Yosemite Divisionals, third at the Valley Championships and was a state qualifier at 145 pounds, finishing the year with a 31-5 record. 

To cap off his career at Monache, Don accrued several awards including East Yosemite League Champion, Redwood Tournament Champion, Bakersfield Quad Champion and Most Valuable Middle Weight Award Winner and third at the Clovis Invitational. He was the Yosemite Divisional Champion and Valley Champion with his senior season culminating in a 48-2 record and runner-up finish at the state championships at 155 pounds.  As a senior, Don was a co-captain for his team, was awarded most valuable wrestler and earned the Outstanding Male Senior Athlete award. 

Don earned an athletic scholarship to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he redshirted his freshman year and later earned a spot on the travel squad before suffering a career-ending knee injury.  Prior to attending Cal Poly, he competed in several freestyle tournaments and participated in a sports-cultural exchange tour to the Pacific Northwest where he went 7-0. 

After returning to Porterville and working as an Energy Analyst, he joined the Monache Wrestling Coaching Staff and assisted in coaching his alma matter from 1998-2011.  Don has a son, Drew, and in 2015 married Marauder alum Valerie (Cowan) Townsend in Hawaii. 

Rick Vafeades 

Rick Vafeades graduated from South High School in Denver, Colorado, in 1963. He was a three-sport athlete, excelling in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he led the Denver Prep League in rushing yardage and made the all-city team for offense and defense. In basketball, he was a starter for a league championship team that lost in the semi-finals of the state playoffs. In baseball, Rick played left field and was the leadoff man in the lineup. For his three-sport excellence, he was voted by the coaches as “Athlete of the Year”. 

Adams State College offered Rick a football scholarship. He played football his freshman year, and in his sophomore year, decided to focus on basketball as a scholarship athlete. In his junior and senior year at Adams State, Rick competed in cross country and track and field. In his senior year, he was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference cross country champion. In indoor and outdoor track and field, he was the two-mile league champion. Rick’s versatility as an athlete allowed him to compete at a high level in a sport previously unfamiliar. 

After receiving his B.A. in Business, Rick accepted a “Fellowship “to earn a “Masters in Education”. In his graduate year he trained for and competed in the 1968 Marathon Olympic Trials held in Alamosa, Colorado. He failed to make the top three finishers and the Olympic team, but the day after the Olympic Trials, received his master’s degree. 

Rick was offered his first teaching position at Coachella Valley (Calif.) High School. While working in the business department, he met his future wife, Jeannie. At the end of the school year, Rick and Jeannie were married and received job offers in Porterville. Rick was hired at Monache High School and Jeannie at Pioneer Middle School. 

Rick Vafeades coached cross country, basketball, baseball, and track and field. In 1986, he became Monache’s varsity basketball coach, a position he held for 16 years. His varsity basketball teams won nine EYL titles, finished second in the Valley in 1989, and competed in the state playoffs. His East Yosemite League career record was 107-49. Rick retired in 2005, after 37 years in education. 

Rick and Jeannie are thoroughly enjoying their retirement. Rick pursues his passion for golf, and Jeannie is the Tulare County coordinator for the “Pet Therapy” program. They enjoy visiting with their daughter, Nicole, who is a practicing lawyer in Los Angeles.