Most coaches wouldn’t think of leaving a playoff game in the third quarter. Then again, most don’t go into labor during a game.
Suzie McConnell-Serio, a former U.S. Olympian from Penn State, went into labor during her Oakland Catholic team’s 60-48 victory over McKeesport in a high school game Monday. She gave birth to a 7-pound, 7-ounce girl, Amanda Nicole, a few hours later.
“What a night,” McConnell-Serio said. “It wasn’t what I expected. I was six days early. With my other two (children), I was late.”
McConnell-Serio actually went into labor earlier Monday, but thought it was a false alarm. Once she did leave the game, the situation proved almost as stressful on her assistant–her husband, Pete Serio, who nervously sweated out the game and news from the hospital during the final 1 1/2 quarters.
“Personally, it was one of the most emotional nights in my life,” Serio said.
