May 18, 2004
VILLANOVA, PA. - At the 11th Annual Senior Student-Athlete Banquet held on Thursday, May 13th, the 2004 Senior Student-Athlete of the Year Award winners were announced. This year's men and women's recipients were Adrian Schau of the baseball team and Janessa Jeltema of the women's soccer team. The banquet recognized all the senior athletes and their respective sports.
Schau, a senior finance major with a minor in marketing, has a 3.51 cumulative GPA. He is a three-time member of the Big East Academic All-Star Team. In addition to his excellence in the classroom, Schau is also President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a Resident Assistant (RA) at Villanova, and attended the NCAA Leadership Conference in 2003.
On the field, Schau has been just as successful. Following a tremendous 2003 season, he was drafted in the 2003 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Cleveland Indians, but chose to return to Villanova for his senior year. This season has been his most successful - helping lead the Wildcats as the team's closer out of the bullpen as well as the team's starting first baseman. On the mound, he leads the team in saves (6) and ERA (1.57). Schau currently ranks fourth in the Big East in saves. In addition, he is fourth in Villanova school history in appearances and sixth in saves. At the plate this season, Schau is tops on the team in batting with a .329 average to go along with 35 runs scored, 12 doubles, five home runs and 24 RBI.
Jeltema, a senior human services major with minors in sociology and psychology, has a 3.75 cumulative GPA. She is a four-time member of the Big East Academic All-Star Team and has received two perfect 4.0's during her academic career.
On the field, as a freshman in 2000, Jeltema was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team. Since that time, she has led the Wildcats to three-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. This past season, Jeltema helped guide Villanova to the program's first-ever Big East Tournament Championship as well as the program's first-ever NCAA "Sweet 16" appearance. The Wildcats finished the season ranked 15th in the nation. In 2003, Jeltema scored three goals and added five assists for 11 points. She will leave Villanova having started in 75 of 85 career games and having recorded 13 career goals and 15 career assists.
Other award recipients on the night included Courtney Mix who was the Women's Basketball Big East/Aeropostale Post Graduate Recipient, as well as Schau and Rebecca Koch who were Big East/Aeropostale Post Graduate Recipients.
Karen Hiznay Rizzo, class of 1981, was the night's keynote speaker. She spoke to the seniors about her accomplishments, her Villanova memories and on where she is today. Rizzo was a women's basketball player at Villanova University, and was one of the first woman athletes to receive a full scholarship at Villanova.
Each Wildcat team and that squads accomplishments were also highlighted on Thursday night.
