Vol. 18, No. 19	Feb. 11, 1999

Two student-athletes recognized by DSBA

University of Delaware athletic standouts Eddie Conti and Kevin Mench, who each earned consensus All-American honors in their respective sports in 1998, were honored as the state of Delaware Co-Athletes of the Year by the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association (DSBA) at its annual banquet at the DuPont Country Club in January.

The DSBA celebrated its 50th anniversary by honoring the two UD athletes, marking the first time two Blue Hen athletes shared the honor. In all, 10 UD athletes have been selected as DSBA Athlete of the Year since the honor's inception in 1949.

Conti, a senior from Neptune, N.J., rewrote the UD football record book in 1998, establishing 43 school, Atlantic 10 and NCAA-I-AA records in the process.

Conti, who battled back from a knee injury that forced him to miss most of the 1997 season, was a first-team NCAA I-AA All-American in 1998, earning first-team notice on all five major All-America teams. He also earned first-team All-Atlantic 10 and first-team All-East honors. During the 1998 season, Conti caught a school record 91 passes for an NCAA 1-AA record 1,712 yards (breaking the record held by current NFL great Jerry Rice) with 10 touchdowns. He also averaged 20.9 yards per kickoff return and 12 yards per punt return and had two returns for touchdowns.

He also set an Atlantic 10 record with 3,737 receiving yards and a conference single game mark with 354 yards receiving vs. Connecticut. Among his other UD records are career receptions (192), yards (3,737), touchdowns (31) and all-purpose yardage (6,096).

Mench, a junior from Newark, made his mark on the baseball diamond in 1998, earning All-American honors as an outfielder while leading the nation in home runs.

A slugging outfielder, Mench is expected to be a top round draft pick in the major league baseball draft in June.

He led Delaware to a 43-10 record and an NCAA Tournament berth in 1998, when he won the America East "triple crown"-by leading the league in batting average (.455), home runs (33) and runs batted in (72). His 33 home runs set a new UD single-season record and led all NCAA Division I players. He also led the NCAA with a 1.091 slugging percentage and he set a school record for career home runs with 52 in only two seasons.