Longtime Loyola Athletic Director Pat Mahoney Steps Down

Patch

WILMETTE, IL —The longtime athletic director of Loyola Academy is resigning, becoming the second senior school official to step down within two weeks. Pat Mahoney is departing Wednesday after 20 years at the school and more than 15 years in charge of the athletic department, according to an announcement from President Rev. Pat McGrath. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Genevieve Atwood, currently the vice president of admissions and enrollment.

The school's president said the school was grateful to its departing sports director for his decades of service. Mahoney, a Northbrook resident, was director of admissions and coached baseball and basketball teams before being named athletic director in 2003.

"We wish him nothing but great success in the next chapter of his professional journey," McGrath said in a release. "Athletic programs have grown considerably during his tenure and he has worked tirelessly to advance the mission of Loyola."

According to the school, there are more than 80 teams playing 34 sports at Loyola, and more than 1,400 students participate.

Atwood, a Wilmette resident, has run the admissions office since 2008 and coached the women's cross country and track teams from 2005 to 2009. Before joining Loyola, she was a teacher at Northbrook Junior High School and St. Mary of the Woods in Chicago.

McGrath said he was confident she would be an effective leader of the school's athletic programs.

"Atwood is a seasoned Loyola administrator and educator," McGrath said. "She understands the mission of Loyola and how important athletics can be in the life of a Rambler."

Mahoney is a 1990 graduate of the school and, like his father before him, a member of the Loyola Academy athletics Hall of Fame. In an interview with the website Maroon and Gold Sports earlier this year, he said he started working in the athletics office in 1997 and realized he enjoyed the high school setting.

"Good things are happening at Loyola, and I think we are only scratching the surface on how good we can be," Mahoney said.

Several months later, Mahoney was interviewed by investigators from the Wilmette and Glenview police departments in connection with allegations of inappropriate comments and behavior by one of the coaches, soccer coach Craig Snower.

Mahoney told police some parents of student athletes had informed him that their daughters were not comfortable being around Snower, who he hired back in 2004, but no "specific complaints" had ever been provided.

Snower was fired on May 10, a few days after former principal Kathryn Baal and McGrath received reports that he made sexual comments around girls on his team.

Mahoney has declined to respond to requests for comment on the matter. Last month, a school spokesperson said there was no connection between the principal's resignation and the termination of Snower.

On Aug. 1, Christopher Heintz was promoted from assistant principal to acting principal following Baal's departure after seven years in charge of the country's largest Jesuit secondary school.

The school said a nationwide search for a new vice president for athletics and fitness would begin in the fall.

Related:

For more local stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts or download the iPhone or Android app.