Vol. 17, No. 34	June 11, 1998

Coaches Hannah and Smith join Hall of Fame

The University of Delaware has added two more stars to the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame with the induction of current baseball coach Bob Hannah and former women's lacrosse head coach Janet Smith.

The 23rd annual Hall of Fame ceremony took place May 28 at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington.

Hannah and Smith were joined by Middletown High School football coach Bill Billings, former Delaware State football head coach Bill Collick, Delaware State football and track standout Felmon Motley, weightlifter Lennell Shepherd, former Philadelphia Phillies baseball player Costen Shockley and the late boxer Lenny Sund.

Hannah, a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, recently completed his 34th season as head coach of the Delaware baseball team. Also a member of the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame, Hannah has posted a career record of 981-419-6 since 1965, putting him among the top 25 active college coaches in wins.

His 1998 team went 43-10 and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the 12th time in school history. Hannah's teams have won 17 regular season conference titles and competed in eight NCAA regional tournaments, including the 1970 season when the team advanced to the College World Series. He has been voted conference Coach of the Year seven times and Eastern Coach of the Year four times.

Smith, who joined her fifth Hall of Fame in the last two years, was the architect of a Delaware women's lacrosse dynasty in the 1980s, leading the Blue Hens to the AIAW Division II national title in 1981 and 1982 and the NCAA Division I title in 1983. She compiled an 11-year record of 181-50-1 at Delaware and coached nine All- Americans.

She was twice named East Coast Conference Coach of the Year and led her teams to four ECC titles. In addition to the state of Delaware Hall of Fame, Smith has also been inducted into the National Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame, the University of Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame, Ursinus College Athletics Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Lacrosse Hall of Fame, all in the past two years.

Photo by Jack Buxbaum