Former Xavier High School and college football player Chevar Rankins and national media personality A.P. Steadham headline the 31st induction class of the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame.
Rankins, Steadham, nine more individuals and two state championship teams previously announced – the 1993-94 Middletown High boys basketball squad and the 1979 Post 75 American Legion baseball team – will be celebrated in an April 27 ceremony at the Elks Crystal Ballroom.
Tickets to the noon ceremony ( $50 for adults, $15 for those under 12) are available through April 19 and can be purchased through the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, care of Danielle Aletta ([email protected]).
At Xavier, Rankins was an All-State defender and two-time team defensive MVP in 2004 and 2005. His senior season resume included 196 tackles, four interceptions and four fumble recoveries as the Falcons tore through the postseason to win the Class LL championship against Southington. Rankins also was a four-year starter and two-year captain for Xavier’s basketball team, which won the Southern Connecticut Conference title in ‘05 and reached the CIAC Division I semifinals in ’05 and ’06.
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Rankins’ college football career began at Stony Brook, where he started at outside linebacker as a freshman. After a two-year derailment because of injury, he returned to the lineup as a senior and led the Sea Wolves’ defense to a Northeast Conference championship. With a medical redshirt granting him two remaining years of eligibility, Rankins moved on to Southern Connecticut State, where he earned a second degree and made the All Northeast-10 First Team.
Steadham is a Middletown High alum and member of the 1974-75 Tigers basketball team that began to build what became a state record 80-game winning streak. After graduating in 1975, he attended the University of Alabama, where he became a fixture in the Crimson Tide sports culture as a reporter and feature writer.
Now in his second decade reporting on Alabama football and Southeastern Conference football at large, Steadham also co-hosts of “AP & Kelly aS wE C it!”, a syndicated weekly radio broadcast. He also was a producer on “The Wishbone Boys,” a film about Bear Bryant’s run of SEC and national championships in the 1970s and into the ‘80s behind the wishbone triple-option offense.
A capsule look at the rest of this year’s class:
Robert Brown
A 1972 Xavier graduate, Brown was a stellar two-season runner. A two-time conference champion in cross country, he was Xavier’s top runner in 1970, the year the Falcons won their first state championship and the school’s first state title in any sport. As a senior, Brown finished second in the 1971 State Open. He ran both the one- and two-mile races in the outdoor track season from 1970-72. Xavier went 49-0 in that stretch in dual meets.
Ashley Driscoll DeJute
At Mercy, DeJute was an All-SCC diver before taking off in the sport at Boston College. She competed in the 1-meter and 3-meter events for the Eagles and became their top diver as a junior, scoring a team-high 78 points. As a senior in the 2010-11 season, DeJute had six first-place finishes and totaled 150 points. She finished her four-year career at BC with 316 points and 14 first-place finishes.
David Chapman
Chapman starred on the football fields at Xavier High School and Columbia University. He was a top defensive player at safety in Xavier’s initial rise as a state power in 1973 and 1974 when the Falcons established their 34-game winning streak. Chapman had a team-leading eight interceptions in each of those seasons. At Columbia, he broke into the Lions’ starting lineup as a sophomore defensive end against Yale in 1976. He spent his final two seasons at outside linebacker, earning All-Ivy League Honorable Mention honors as a senior.
Rick Gallitto
Gallitto graduated in 1977 from Woodrow Wilson High School, where he starred in football and track and field. He was a three-year starter on both the offensive and defensive lines and captained the Wildcats in his senior season. He was a thrower – discus, shot put and javelin – and named Wilson’s Scholar-Athlete. He went on to attend Harvard, at the time the first student from Middletown public schools to be accepted to the prestigious Ivy League college, and forged a long and successful career in banking and finance.
Morty Pear
Pear’s legacy was fueled by a lifelong passion for sports as a participant, coach, official and volunteer. Pear, being honored posthumously, played football at Middletown High for coach Waino Fillback. Later in life, Pear got involved with Midget Football, city softball, Little League softball and Middletown High’s Booster Club (he was president in 1986). He was a softball umpire for a decade starting in the late 1980s, and some of his proudest years in athletics came while coaching basketball and volleyball for Adath Israel Synagogue teams. Pear also was a founder of the Elks’ veterans kayaking program, a member of the National Ski Patrol, and a volunteer and the state’s Special Olympics organization, for which he was a Hall of Fame inductee in 2016.
Frank Rand
Rand, being honored posthumously, wore many hats at Middletown High School between 1922 and 1946 – athletic director, physical education teacher, and head coach of the basketball, football and baseball teams. Under his 25-year leadership as AD, he was instrumental in the Tigers joining their first conference (CCIL) and accessing new facilities (City School Field among them) in the city. Rand coached football for eight seasons, leading the Tigers to victory over crosstown rival Woodrow Wilson in the first two City Series games of 1931 and 1932. His longest tenure as a coach spanned 23 seasons in basketball and included an appearance in the 1940 Class M state championship game.
Rich Tanasi
Tanasi was a two-sport star at Woodrow Wilson High, graduating in 1972. In football, he was a defensive standout at safety and the Wildcats’ starting quarterback and tri-captain in his senior year. His leadership and athletic prowess helped Wilson go undefeated against crosstown rival Middletown High in the 1968-71 seasons. In his final game, Tanasi quarterbacked Wilson to a 32-18 win over the Tigers. In baseball, he was Wilson’s ace in his junior and senior seasons, leading the staff in wins and ERA.
Joe Witkowski
Witkowski was a standout catcher in Xavier’s lineup for four years. He was the Falcons’ Offensive and Defensive MVP as a senior with a team-best .439 batting average, three home runs, 33 RBIs and 30 runs. He received All-State recognition from Hartford and New Haven media outlets and the Connecticut High School Coaches Association. He had an equally stellar career at St. John’s offensively and behind the plate while winning two Big East championships with the Red Storm. Witkowski spent a few years in the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals farm systems before injuries ended his baseball career.
Larry Woolard II
Woolard was a four-year football player at Xavier and Wesleyan University. A two-way player at Xavier as a linebacker and running back, he led the Falcons in tackles as a junior and senior. He started on both sides of the ball in his senior season in 1997, rushing for 1,356 yards and 22 touchdowns. Woolard was a two-year captain at Wesleyan, receiving Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2000 and the C. Everett Bacon Award as Cardinals MVP in 2001. In 2024, he was named to the 2000 Wesleyan Football All Decade Team.