PENDLETON — Amid a statewide shutdown in student athletics, Pendleton High School has hired a new athletic director.

The Pendleton School District announced Friday that Mike Somnis will take over as an athletic director and assistant principal at Pendleton High School. Somnis replaces Troy Jerome, who is resigning to become the superintendent of the Pilot Rock School District.

Somnis comes to Pendleton from the Sherman County School District, where he served as the K-12 principal. Despite narrowing his focus, Somnis will actually be in charge of more students at his new job: Pendleton High School’s enrollment is more than three times as big as Sherman County’s entire district.

With a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Oregon University and a master’s degree from the University of Phoenix, Somnis started his career teaching in Yuma, Arizona, according to a district press release.

He would go on to teach a variety of subjects and a number of sports throughout his career, including time spent as the varsity coach for high school basketball and football.

Prior to his three-year stint in Sherman County, Somnis was the assistant principal and athletic director at The Dalles High School.

Besides his extensive experience in athletics, the district praised Somnis for his experience in evaluation and his “integrity, listening skills, and ability to build high-quality relationships with students, staff, and patrons.”