College Sports Information Directors of America

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Mark Mentone – Felician University, Sports Information Director

CoSIDA 25-Year Award

by Dan Lauletta – Wilmington University, Coordinator of Sports Information

Sports are one of the world’s novelties that doesn’t produce a lot of change. Players, coaches, officials, and even fans come and go, but the sport itself remains the same from the professional ranks down to the newly introduced.

Much like the sports themselves, there hasn’t been a lot of change in a small area of the Northeast where one man has been the cornerstone of the NCAA Division II landscape for the past 24 years.

All but one year of Felician University’s Mark Mentone’s 25-year career in a sports information office have been within Division II. Even more selective, 20 of those years have been inside the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, the last 15 with Mentone serving as a Golden Falcon at Felician, located in Rutherford, New Jersey.

The demands of the industry have changed dramatically in the past five years, let alone since Mentone stepped foot in the SID office at Hartwick College in 1996. But the Hamden, Connecticut native has stuck to his roots and has done what he’s always done, putting pen to paper to tell the student-athlete’s story.
 

One of his most memorable moments came off the court. The perseverance of former student-athlete Suzanne Albert who overcame a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, and a torn ACL during her recovery before eventually return to play two sports at Felician while pursuing her graduate degree. Aided by Mentone’s skillful storytelling and nomination, Albert became a finalist for the 2009 Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.

Mark credits his longevity in the industry to Rick Leddy, his boss at Southern Connecticut State University and CoSIDA Hall of Fame Inductee. (Leddy is now Senior Director of Communications for the National Association of Basketball Coaches, NABC.) During a three-year span (23-26), arguably one the most influential age span in a young man’s life, Mentone learned what it took to last in an athletic department.

“Rick Leddy didn't teach me a thing about what's an assist, how to score a soccer game, or how to write, Mentone said. “But he taught me that these aren’t really sports jobs or public relation jobs; they're people jobs.”

Writing has always been a strong suit for Mentone, as Leddy took notice of that right away.

“Mark is a professional with superior skills, especially as a talented writer and stats whiz, but his greatest trait is that he could be trusted with any assignment, big or small, while representing Southern’s athletic programs,” Leddy noted.

Included in those assignments were two trips to the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Championships in 1998 and 1999, where Mentone skillfully handled all of the media for back-to-back national titles for the Owls.

Mentone remembers the 1999 National Championship game well, especially the game-winning goal in overtime of the title game - not only because it clinched a back-to-back championship run, but because it came from TJ DeLucia. DeLucia was the lone in-state starter on a team full of international players, and he grew up two towns over from where Mentone grew up and close to SCSU, truly making it a hometown story.

After a five-year stint at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Mentone remained in the CACC by joining with Felician in 2006. He’s controlled the one-man shop since then, seeing Felician turn from a College into University status, and grow from 10 to 14 sports since his arrival.

All six of the University's NCAA All-America performers and all 14 of its Academic All-America® honorees have been named under his watch. Additionally, Mentone has publicized eight of Felician's 14 CACC championships.

Beginning in the fall of 2012, Mentone was named the first Chair of Felician’s Athletics Hall of Fame, an event he developed and maintained for seven years while also emceeing the night of the ceremony.

“Mark is a great guy who deserves so much more than he gets,” said former Felician baseball standout LT Struble. “He puts in a tremendous amount of work at all hours of the night. Some don’t give him the credit he deserves. Some other schools have different SIDs to cover all of the sports or they have a lot of people helping, but Mark does all the work himself.”

Another memorable moment for Mentone came at the hands (and field) of this writer, as Mentone saw the Felician baseball program grow and achieve. This culminated with baseball’s first CACC Tournament Championship and NCAA Regional appearance in 2014. That championship team had two all-time records fall in that game, a future MLB pitcher, and a student-athlete that would later beat Stage 3 cancer who earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

All stories that Mentone would later tell elegantly.

“Mark is someone who is not only great as his job, but he’s an even better person that would enhance the experience of any college that he is at,” Struble said. “I wish people realized the hard work, effort, and care he puts into his job. He deserves many thanks for his countless hours and I will always be grateful to meet such an amazing person.” 

Leddy concluded, “I am extremely happy that Mark has remained in the profession, has been a wonderful asset for the Felician University athletic programs, and is being recognized for his contributions.”