Mater Dei Names Girls’ Athletic Director, Tennis Coach

Mater Dei named Patricia Smith girls’ athletic director and Sue Spinner girls’ tennis coach Tuesday.

Smith has coached swimming at Savanna High since 1984, was a swim coach and physical education teacher at Arkansas from 1979 to 1983 and also coached at Arizona State.

Spinner, a 1985 Mater Dei graduate, has been the junior varsity tennis coach and a varsity assistant for three years. She was a Southern Section Division III semifinalist as a junior and played at UC Santa Barbara. Spinner will hold a camp for new and returning players this summer. Call 754-7711, ext. 230, for information.

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Los Alamitos softball Coach Jami Shannon, who was due to give birth on Friday, missed Tuesday’s second-round, 2-0 victory over Santa Maria Righetti in the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

“My doctor wouldn’t let me go on that long of a bus ride,” she said.

Although Shannon avoided the four-hour trip, she still had a long afternoon: “I was thinking about the game and watching the clock.”

Los Alamitos sailed into the quarterfinal round under the direction of Shannon’s assistant, Al Gragnano, who probably will coach the team in Tuesday’s semifinals if Los Alamitos can get past Marina on Thursday. That’s because Shannon’s doctors will induce labor on Monday if she hasn’t given birth before then.

“I would like to be there, but it just depends,” Shannon said. “It would depend on how I felt. If I could be there, I’ll be there.”

This is Shannon’s first child.