The hardest working teenager is Mater Dei’s Ryan McMahon
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You’re the starting quarterback at Santa Ana Mater Dei, the school that produced Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley. You’re the starting third baseman for one of the best baseball programs in Southern California.
Ryan McMahon is one lucky, talented senior athlete who has to find time and rely on great organizational skills this summer to keep up his two-sport routine.
‘Football in the morning and baseball in the afternoon every day,’ McMahon said. ‘Two-hour naps in-between.’
He turns off his phone and gets his rest.
It also appears that Mater Dei’s coaches are working together to allow McMahon to pull off his balancing act. ‘He’s been real understanding and supportive of all the baseball stuff I’ve been doing,’ McMahon said of football coach Bruce Rollinson.
Baseball is the likely college choice for McMahon, who has offers from UCLA, USC and Oregon, with Notre Dame beginning to show interest.
He’s a finalist to make the Area Codes Games, which will be held Aug. 5 through 10 in Long Beach. The final tryout is Monday.
But he hasn’t ruled out football in college, and he showed great promise as a quarterback last season as a junior.
What’s clear is that he’s a talented, motivated teenager who understands the importance of a nap.
‘That’s what saves me,’ he said.
-- Eric Sondheimer