CHESTER, Pa. - The Widener University athletics department recently recognized the accomplishments of the Class of 2022 with its Senior Sports Assembly at Alumni Auditorium. The annual awards ceremony was the first one in person since 2019. The last two award ceremonies were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The graduating senior class was honored for its work in the classroom and on the field that included:

• 303 appearances on the MAC Academic Honor Roll
• 10 Academic All-MAC selections
• Six Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area honorees
  Two MAC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners
• Four All-Americans
• 24 All-Region honorees
• Made 119 All-Conference teams with 25 First-Team honors
• Appeared in 52 MAC tournaments, 13 NCAA tournaments and nine ECAC/Centennial-MAC Bowl Series championships

The athletic department recognized each of its 25 sports programs throughout the evening, showing highlights of each sport that made this senior class incredibly special. In addition, the Pride also handed out its Blue and Gold Club Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year and the George and Sis Hansell Scholar-Athlete Awards.
 
The Blue and Gold Club Female Student-Athlete of the Year was Anna Cooney of women's indoor and outdoor track and field, who is a two-time All-American in the shot put, a five-time MAC champion in the shot put and hammer throw, and the MAC overall record and championship record holder in the hammer throw. Cooney, who also has four all-time top-10 throws in Widener history, will be finishing up her final outdoor track and field season at the end of this month.
 
The Blue and Gold Club Male Student-Athlete of the Year award went to James Gillespie of football, who was the 2019 MAC Offensive Player of the Year and a D3football.com Third Team All-American selection who finished his career ranked in the top four in Widener's history in receptions (third with 174), receiving touchdowns (third with 32), receiving yards (fourth with 2,889) and 100-yard receiving games (fourth with 10).
 
The Hansell Award is the embodiment of what it means to be a Division III student-athlete. Named for former PMC athletic director and head coach George Hansell, Sr. it's presented to one male and female student-athlete who have been outstanding in both scholarship and athletic pursuits during their four years.
 
The women's Hansell Award winner was Madi Radnoff of field hockey. Radnoff was a two-time All-MAC Commonwealth First Team honoree and an NFHCA Second Team All-Region selection who led the Pride to their first MAC Commonwealth championship game in program history. Radnoff was also an Academic All-MAC selection, a three-time MAC Academic Honor Roll honoree, a four-time NFHCA National Academic Team member, and a Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area selection with a 3.91 GPA as a chemical engineering and chemistry double major. Radnoff has already accepted a position at Merck working in its Quality Line Oversight Program following graduation.
 
The men's Hansell Award was presented to Mario Scotese of football and men's lacrosse. Scotese led the football team in sacks in each of the last two seasons, earned All-MAC First Team honors in 2021, D3football.com All-Region 1 Second Team and All-MAC Honorable Mention honors in 2019. In lacrosse, Scotese played in 44 games as midfielder and face-off specialist for the Pride. In the classroom, Scotese posted a 3.63 GPA as a graduate student pursing a master's in civil engineering and earned Philly-SIDA Academic All-Area three times, CoSIDA Academic All-District two times, Academic All-MAC two times, MAC Academic Honor Roll three times, and the MAC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year for football. Scotese will be working at Ascent, an engineering firm in Philadelphia as an associate project manager.