Madison, Wis. - The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) has announced the members of its 2015 Hall of Fame class.  The WIAC established a Hall of Fame to coincide with the conference's celebration of its 100th anniversary, which took place during the 2012-13 academic year.  Three former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student-athletes, Tori Neubauer-Muesing, Tom Newberry and Andrew Rock, have been selected to the WIAC Hall of Fame.
 
The 30-member class for 2015 will be inducted at the WIAC Hall of Fame Banquet to be held August 1, 2015, at UW-Platteville.

In announcing the 2015 class, WIAC Commissioner Gary Karner noted once again how difficult the selection process is given the 102-year history and incomparable success of the conference.  "Quite frankly, there are dozens, if not hundreds, more individuals deserving of this honor.  Therefore, it is our intention to continue to induct future Hall of Fame classes every three years with the ultimate goal of recognizing those student-athletes, coaches, administrators, officials and others whose contributions and achievements have established and solidified the WIAC's status as the most accomplished Division III conference in NCAA history," added Karner.

Neubauer-Muesing, Newberry and Rock join three former UW-L head coaches in the WIAC Hall of Fame.  Phil Esten, Mark Guthrie and Roger Harring were inducted in the inaugural class in 2012.  Click here for information on the inaugural WIAC Hall of Fame and Esten, Guthrie and Harring. 

Neubauer-Muesing was a member of UW-L's cross country and track & field squads from 1980-84, claiming six National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III individual titles.  A native of Oshkosh, Wis., Neubauer-Muesing earned seven All-America honors, including a Division I award for cross country in 1983.

She is one of four women in NCAA Division III cross country history to win multiple individual titles, doing so in 1982 and 1983. Neubauer-Muesing also placed sixth at the 1981 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Championships.  She helped lead UW-L to the team title at the 1983 NCAA III Cross Country Championships and a second-place finish in 1982. Neubauer-Muesing captured two WIAC cross country titles (1982, 1983), one of nine student-athletes in league history to accomplish the feat.

During her outdoor track career she claimed 3,000 and 5,000 meter-run NCAA Division III titles in 1983 and 5,000 and 10,000 meter titles in 1984.  To this day she still holds UW-L's outdoor records at 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters.  She earned AIAW Outdoor All-America honors in 1982, placing third in the 5,000-meter run and sixth in the 3,000-meter run.

Neubauer-Muesing won eight track & field conference titles, including three indoor and five outdoor. She won the indoor mile title in 1983 and the two-mile championship in 1983 and 1984. Neubauer-Muesing captured the outdoor conference crown in the 5,000-meter run in 1983 and 1984 and the 3,000-meter run in 1982, 1983 and 1984.

She earned four National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) titles in 1983 and 1984, capturing the two-mile run in both seasons. Neubauer-Muesing also won the mile championship in 1984 and was a member of UW-L's national champion distance medley relay in 1983.  She continued to compete following her collegiate career, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984 and 1988.

Inducted into the UW-L Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994, Neubauer-Muesing now has a cross country meet named in her honor at UW-L.  In 2012, she was selected to the WIAC Women's Cross Country and Women's Track & Field All-Time Teams in conjunction with the conference's Centennial Celebration.  Neubauer-Muesing was inducted into the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III Track & Field Athlete Hall of Fame in 2013.

A member of UW-L's football and track & field teams from 1982-86, Newberry secured NAIA All-America First Team honors in football in 1984 and 1985, serving as team captain of UW-L's NAIA championship team in 1985.  He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round (50th overall pick) of the 1986 National Football League (NFL) Draft and played 10 seasons in the league, including as a starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.  

Newberry was a two-time (1988, 1989) Pro Bowl selection and the only NFL All-Pro Offensive Player drafted in WIAC history.  He was an All-WIAC First Team football selection in 1984 and second-team choice in 1983.

Newberry won four national titles in track & field at UW-L, capturing the NAIA indoor shot put championship in 1985.  He won a pair of NCAA III outdoor shot put crowns (1984, 1985) and one discus title (1985).  Newberry earned seven career track & field All-America honors.

Inducted into the UW-L Wall of Fame in 1997, Newberry won 10 conference track & field crowns.  He captured three indoor (1983, 1984, 1985) and outdoor (1983, 1984, 1985) league titles in the shot put while winning two discus throws (1984, 1985) and two hammer throw (1984, 1985) championships.

In 2012, he was selected to the WIAC Football and Men's Track & Field All-Time Teams in conjunction with the conference's Centennial Celebration.

A member of the Eagles' track & field team from 2001-04, Rock won 11 NCAA Division III titles and earned 17 All-America honors.  He became the first athlete in NCAA III history to win three consecutive indoor 400-meter dash championships (2002, 2003, 2004).  Rock was the third athlete in NCAA III history to win the outdoor 200 and 400-meter dashes at one championship (2003) and the fourth athlete to capture the 400 indoor and 400 outdoor national titles in the same season (2003).  He was a member of three national champion 4x400-meter relays (indoor in 2003 and 2004; outdoor in 2004).

Capturing 17 WIAC titles, Rock was the first athlete in league history to win four straight 200-meter indoor titles and four consecutive 400-meter outdoor crowns (2001-04). He was named the WIAC Track Performer of the Meet at the outdoor championships three times (2001, 2003, 2004). Rock was a member of eight NCAA Division III championship teams at UW-L, including four indoor and four outdoor. 

He earned a gold medal as part of the United States' 4x400-meter relay semifinal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.  The relay of Kelly Willie, Derrick Brew, Rock and Darold Williamson ran 2:59.30, the then-fastest time in the world.  Rock was sixth in the 400-meter dash (44.95) at the 2004 United States Olympic Trials and claimed a gold medal at the World Outdoor Games with the 4x400-meter relay squad.  

Named to the 2003 and 2004 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American® First Team, Rock was selected to the WIAC Men's Track & Field All-Time Team in 2012 in conjunction with the conference's Centennial Celebration.  He was inducted into the UW-L Wall of Fame in 2014.

For more information on the WIAC Hall of Fame Class , please visit www.wiacsports.com