Six alumni inducted during October ceremony

La Crosse, Wis. - Six former student-athletes, including a current Eagles' head coach, make up the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Wall of Fame Class for 2024. The six honorees to be inducted include former student-athletes Jessie (Coonen) Grasse (1990-93); Gabi (Hooper) Rooker (2006-10); Elizabeth (Miles) Hansen (2001-05); Jason Ott (1999-2002); Bobby Riley (2005-09) and Chris Schwarz (1999-2002).

The six honorees will be recognized with an induction ceremony on Saturday, October 5 starting at 10 a.m. in Centennial Hall. The ceremony is free and open to the public. The award winners will be recognized during halftime of UWL's football game versus UW-Platteville.

UWL's Wall of Fame pays tribute to former athletes, coaches and staff for their exceptional ability and enhancement of school tradition.

Coonen won a pair of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III titles in the shot put, capturing the indoor and outdoor championships in 1993. She earned three other outdoor NCAA III All-America awards, placing fifth in the shot put in 1992 and seventh in 1990. Coonen was second in the discus throw in 1993 to earn All-America accolades.
She won the discus throw at the 1993 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championships.
Coonen was a member of the NCAA Division III runner-up teams at the 1993 indoor and outdoor championships. UWL also placed 13th indoors in 1992 and 15th in 1991. At the NCAA III Outdoor Championships, the Eagles finished eighth in 1992, ninth in 1991 and 11th in 1990. Coonen was a member of two (1992, 1993) WIAC Outdoor Championship squads.
A native of Wautoma, Wisconsin, Coonen is a family nurse practitioner in Appleton, Wisconsin. She and her husband, Scott Grasse, live in Hortonville, Wisconsin, with their three sons, Paul, Thomas and David. Coonen earned her bachelor's degree from UWL in 1993 majoring in biology and her bachelor's degree from Marian University (Wis.) in nursing in 1996. She earned her master's of science in nursing and family nurse practitioner degrees from UW-Oshkosh in 2003.

Named to the WIAC All-Time Gymnastics Team, Hooper earned seven National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) honors, including three national titles. She captured the vault crown in 2007 and 2008 and floor exercise in 2010. Hooper also earned NCGA All-America accolades in the floor exercise (second in 2007; fifth in 2009), balance beam (second in 2008) and vault (second in 2009).
She won six individual WIAC titles, including three in the vault (2007, 2009, 2010), two on the floor exercise (2007, 2010) and one on the balance beam (2008). A four-time WIAC Athlete of the Week selection, Hooper was named the 2010 WIAC Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete. She also earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Second Team honors in 2010 and was selected to the NCGA All-Academic Team in 2010.
A member of three NCGA Championship squads (2008-10) and three WIAC title teams (2007-09), Hooper holds UWL's record on the vault with a score of 9.900 and the Mitchell Hall facility record with a score of 9.850. She has six of the top-14 scores in school history on the vault.
Hooper currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, working as a internal medicine physician assistant at M Health Fairview. She is also a professional runner for Nike and will be competing in the professional field at the Chicago Marathon on October 13 after placing 12th last year, including the fourth American finisher. A native of New Brighton, Minnesota, Hooper and her husband, Alex Rooker, reside in Minneapolis. Rooker was a member of UWL's track & field team from 2006-11, winning an NCAA Division III title as a member of the indoor 4x400-meter relay in 2008. Hooper earned her bachelor's degree in community health education from UWL in 2010 and her master's in physician assistant studies from Augsburg University (Minn.) in 2015.

Miles earned four NCAA Division III All-America honors for the swimming & diving team at UWL, including three individually. She finished seventh in the 200 butterfly in 2004 and 11th in 2003 while placing ninth in the 400 I.M. in 2004. Miles was also on the 15th-place 400 freestyle relay in 2003 to earn All-America accolades.
The winner of four (2002-05) WIAC titles in the 200 butterfly, Miles also captured the conference title in the 400 I.M. in 2004. She was named the WIAC Swimmer of the Week seven times in her career.
She was a member of four teams to place in the top-20 at the national championships, including fifth in 2004. UWL also finished 10th in 2002, 15th in 2005 and 20th in 2003. Miles was on four (2002-05) conference championship teams at UWL.
A native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, Miles currently resides there with her husband, Ryan Hansen, and daughters, Caroline and Mara. She is a social studies teacher and the head girls swimming and diving coach at Wayzata High School in Plymouth, Minnesota. Miles earned her bachelor's degree in secondary education and history at UWL in 2006 and her master's degree in education at Saint Mary's University (Minn.) in 2010.

Selected to the WIAC All-Time Wrestling Team, Ott also competed in football and baseball at UWL. He finished 109-20 in his wrestling career, ranking 12th in school history in victories. Ott earned three NCAA Division III All-America honors at heavyweight, including winning the national title in 2002. He placed third in 2001 and seventh in 1999.
He was voted the 2001-02 WIAC Wrestler of the Year and the 1999-2000 WIAC Wrestler of the Meet. Ott was a three-time (2000-02) league champion at heavyweight and placed second in 1999.
Ott was a member of four teams finishing in the top-14 at the NCAA III Championships, including second in 2001, fourth in 2002, sixth in 2000 and 14th in 1999. He was also on four WIAC Championship teams (1999-2002).
He earned 2001 All-WIAC Second Team honors in football and a member of two (1999, 2002) championship teams. Ott was also on UWL's league championship baseball team (2000).
Ott currently resides in Verona, Wisconsin, with his wife, Nancy, daughter MiKayla, and sons Brennan and Tyson. He works as the distribution manager for Dream House Dream Kitchens. Ott earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from UWL in 2003.

Riley was named to the WIAC All-Time Track & Field Team, earning nine NCAA III All-America honors. He won three national titles in the indoor shot put (2007-09) and placed seventh in 2005. Riley earned five career outdoor All-America accolades, including second-places finishes in the shot put in 2007 and 2009. He was third in the discus throw in 2007 and 2008 and fourth in 2009.
The winner of seven WIAC titles, Riley was named the 2009 WIAC Field Performer of the Meet after winning the shot put, discus throw and javelin throw. He also earned the 2009 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year. Riley also won the outdoor conference shot put title in 2007 and captured three indoor league titles in the shot put (2007-09).
He was on three (2005, 2008, 2009) NCAA Division III Indoor Championship teams and one (2007) outdoor title squad. UWL also placed second indoors in 2007 and second outdoors in 2005. Riley was a member of eight (four indoor; four outdoor) WIAC Championship teams.
A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Riley is a chiropractor and lives in Woodbury, Minnesota, with his wife, Jeannie, son Soren and daughter Embla. He earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from UWL in 2009 and his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Sciences University (Minn.) in 2012.

Schwarz is currently in his 21st season as head baseball coach at UWL. He has led UWL to seven NCAA Division III tournament appearances, including three trips to the national championships. The Eagles finished national runner-up in 2015. UWL has won three WIAC Tournament titles and a pair of regular season championships. Schwarz has been named the WIAC Coach of the Year four times and been selected the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coach of the Year twice. He has also earned D3baseball.com Region Coach of the Year in four seasons and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Region Coach of the Year on three occasions.
The winningest coach in school history, Schwarz enters this season with 499 career victories. UWL won a school record 39 games in 2016. The Eagles have earned 121 All-WIAC awards under Schwarz, including 64 first team selections. At least four players have been named to the all-conference first team eight of the last 12 years. Schwarz has had three players, Joel Effertz (28th Round in 2013), Taylor Kohlwey (21st Round in 2016) and Caleb Boushley (33rd Round in 2017), drafted under Schwarz.
He was a four-year baseball letter winner at UWL, earning 2002 All-WIAC First Team honors after pitching in a school record 19 games. He is currently tied for fourth in career saves at UWL. A member of two WIAC Championship teams (1998, 2000), Schwarz was one of the Eagles' team captains in 2002. He also earned three letters with the football team and was a member of the conference championship squad in 1999.
A native of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Schwarz earned his bachelor's degree in physical education teaching from UWL in 2002 and his master's degree in sport administration in 2004. He currently resides in Viroqua, Wisconsin, with his wife, Katie, daughter Madelyn, and sons Noah, Liam and Jaxon.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.