Former El Camino College athletic director and men’s and women’s cross country coach has died at the age of 75.

Dave Shannon, who worked in athletics at El Camino College (ECC) for 31 years, died suddenly on Aug. 17 in San Diego, according to an email sent by ECC Marketing and Communications.

Shannon started working at El Camino in 1976 as an assistant coach for the Warriors’ men’s cross country team and would hold this position until 1979 where he was then promoted to head coach for both the men’s and women’s cross country teams as well as the track and field teams.

From 1979-1988, Shannon’s teams received 127 dual-meet wins and only 11 losses. He would also lead the men’s cross country team to both the 1983 and 1984 state championship titles and would be named California Community College Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1984, according to the email.

For track and field, Shannon would lead the women’s team to state championships in 1979 and 1985. Overall, the track teams won three state titles, two Southern California Regional titles, 26 individual titles, nine relay titles and the women’s team set six National Junior College records.

In 1988, Shannon became assistant athletics director and would then be promoted to athletic director in 1989 until 2007. He also served as ECC’s interim dean of health sciences and athletics from 1999-2000, according to the email.

Shannon was named to the California Community College Cross-Country and Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2004 and was inducted into the El Camino Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.

Both Shannon and his late wife Joanie, who met while working at ECC, resided in San Diego. Joanie died in 2014, and Shannon would continue to live with his dog Duke and cat Mary Grace, according to the email.