May 20, 2005

VILLANOVA, Pa. - At the 12th annual Senior Student-Athlete Banquet held on Thursday, May 19, the 2005 Senior Student-Athletes of the Year were announced. This year's recipients were Raymond Ventrone of the football team and Allison Wisniewski of the softball team. The banquet is held on an annual basis to recognize all the senior athletes and their respective sports.

Ventrone recently signed a free agent contract with the World Champion New England Patriots. Ventrone played in 35 career games and tallied 251 total tackles (189 solo/62 assisted), 19 tackles for loss, 11 pass break-ups, five forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and two sacks. In addition to being named first team All-Atlantic 10 in 2003, he earned 2003 GTE/CoSIDA District II Academic All-American honors. A finance major, Ventrone also earned Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team distinction in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

As a senior in 2004, Ventrone's season was cut short when he suffered a season-ending leg injury versus the University of Pennsylvania in week four. In the four games he saw action in, Ventrone was credited with 31 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack.

Ventrone is currently the fourth Villanova alum to be on an NFL roster, joining wide receiver Brian Finneran (Atlanta Falcons), cornerback Clarence Curry (Arizona Cardinals) and running back Brian Westbrook (Philadelphia Eagles).

Wisniewski, a finance major, has been a key starter for Villanova throughout her four years on the Main Line. In 2002, she was voted to the Big East All-Rookie Team for her freshman season in which she batted .297 to go with 23 RBI and 16 runs. Wisniewski was also selected as a Big East Academic All-Star in 2003 and 2004 in addition to being named an NFCA Academic All-American in 2003. Wisniewski also served as President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and plans to attend law school in the fall.

This season, Wisniewski led the team in home runs (10) and RBI (36). The `Cats starting right fielder, Wisniewski helped the team to its sixth consecutive conference tournament appearance.

The Senior Student-Athlete of the Year awards are given to those student-athletes who excel both on a off the field. Wisniewski is the fifth softball player to receive the honor.