COLUMBUS, Ohio – Capital University Athletics, alongside Alumni Engagement, has announced the 2025 Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees. 

This year's Hall of Fame class includes …

• Thom Hausler '06 – Football 
• Ryan Wood '09 – Men's Basketball
• Emily Goerig '11 – Women's Track & Field
• Hilary Ells Butcher '14 – Women's Soccer
• Kelsey Swain Longwell '15 – Softball
• LeAnna Cotton Convertini '15 - Softball/Volleyball

Additionally, Capital University Athletics will recognize Steve Furniss as the 2025 Distinguished Service Award recipient. 

The seven Hall of Fame inductees and award recipients will be recognized at a breakfast ceremony as part of Homecoming Weekend on Saturday, October 25th. Additionally, the group will be recognized at halftime of the football game vs. Otterbein which kicks off at 1:30 p.m. that same day. 

Thom Hausler, a two-time graduate of Capital University, made his name known with an impact as one of the most prolific returners in program history. Across a four-year career, Hausler amassed 77 kickoff returns for 1,688 yards – a total that stands as the third most kickoff return yards in program history. His 77 kickoff returns marks the second most in program history. As a punt returner, Hausler had 108 returns for 1,026 return yards – both totals that remain school records.  As a defensive back, Hausler also holds the school record for longest interception returned for a touchdown with a 100-yard return at Otterbein in the 2003 season. 

For his accomplishments, Hausler was recognized as a four-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference recipient, starting as an honorable mention his freshman year, second team his sophomore year, and two first team accolades his junior and senior years. Throughout his four-year career, Capital football amassed a 36-10 record, which included trips to the NCAA Tournament in 20025 and 2006. 

Thom currently resides in Dayton, Ohio with his son Everett Barry. He serves as an Air Force ROTC instructor at Ohio University. 

Ryan Wood, a 2009 Capital graduate, made a definitive impact on the Capital men's basketball program as a vocal leader and an outstanding player on the floor. Considered one of the stalwarts of the program, Wood currently holds the career record for games played, appearing in 114 contests from 2005-09. He concluded his career with 1,195 points, which stands as the 22nd most in program history. Individually, he was recognized with three All-OAC honors, including first team as a senior, second team as a junior and honorable mention as a sophomore. He was also twice selected as Academic All-OAC. 

As a four-year starter for Capital basketball, Ryan had an immense impact on one of the greatest generations of Capital men's basketball ever. The team earned the OAC Regular Season Championship during Wood's sophomore and junior seasons, while also winning the OAC Tournament during the sophomore season. The team qualified for the NCAA Tournament for three of his four seasons at Capital, which included a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2009. 

Wood was also awarded the "Team Crusader Award" in 2009. This award is chosen by the coaching staff recognizing a member of the team for their leadership and qualities of being a team player. 

Emily Goerig is a 2011 graduate of Capital University's Fine Art College where she also excelled as a women's track & field student-athlete, setting numerous records and winning many awards. Her career as a thrower with the women's track & field program was highlighted by two All-American finishes and two school records in the indoor and outdoor shot put. 

In the indoor throws, Emily excelled in the shot put earning NCAA Championship qualification for the first time in 2011. It was in that same season that Emily would place sixth at the NCAA Championships, earning her first career All-American honor. That same season, Emily set the Capital school record that still stands today in the indoor shot put with a mark of 13.86 meters. 

In the outdoor setting, Emily was a two-time NCAA Championship qualifier in the shot put in both 2010 and 2011. At the 2011 championships, Goerig placed seventh with a throw of 13.77 meters, which earned her All-American honors. The distance also still stands as the Capital school record. Emily proved her ability in the outdoor discus at Capital as well as she currently holds the third best throw in program history with a distance of 39.04 meters. In 2009, Emily was awarded the Guido and JoAnn Ricevuto Most Outstanding Field Athlete award at the OAC Outdoor Championships. 

Currently, Emily resides in Columbiana, Ohio and has worked as a high school art teacher for the past 13 years. 

Hilary Ells Butcher, a 2014 Capital graduate, battled adversity throughout her career, but did not let that define her college career. Instead, she returned her senior year after missing the 2012 season to lead the Capital women's soccer team to their best ever season – a National Semifinals appearance in 2013. That season, Capital finished with a 19-5-2 record that included both the OAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships. The 19 wins also marks a program record for most wins in a season. The efforts of the team in 2013 led to Ells leading the squad with 14 goals that season and being named to the NSCAA All-America third team and the All-Region first team. Within the conference, Hilary was also named the OAC Forward of the Year in 2013 in addition to All-Conference first team honors. 

In addition to her senior year accolades, Hilary was also awarded All-OAC second team in 2011 – the same season in which Capital claimed the OAC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round. In 2011, Ells was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team as well. 

Hilary also was recognized by the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association with first team athletic honors in 2013 and second team academic honors in 2011. 

Kelsey Swain Longwell, a 2015 graduate of Capital, teamed up with fellow 2025 inductee LeAnna Cotton Convertini to help lead Capital University softball through one of its best stretches of late. Kelsey was a big part of the sustained success of that team with four years of high production at the plate. Currently, Kelsey continues to hold school records in single-season runs scored (61 in 2015), single-season triples (12 in 2015), career runs scored (165), and career triples (20). Additionally, Kelsey is high in the record books in many other categories including, career at-bats (2nd all-time with 550), single-season hits (3rd all-time with 68 in 2015 and 5th all-time with 66 in 2013), career hits (4th all-time with 231), career stolen bases (4th all-time with 59), and career batting average (6th all-time with .420 on 231 of 550). 

For all of the work on the field Kelsey was able to impact, she was recognized by the NFCA as an All-Region first team honoree in both 2013 and 2015. Beyond the region, Kelsey garnered four All-OAC honors including second team accolades in 2012, 2013, and 2014 and first team honors in 2015. 

During her career, Kelsey was a member of a team that amassed a very successful 105 wins which included an OAC Championship and NCAA Tournament Appearance in 2013.

Kelsey currently resides in Hilliard, Ohio with her husband Chase and two children, daughter Blake and son Jack. She works as a teacher.  

LeAnna Cotton Convertini, a 2015 graduate of Capital, paired with teammate and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Kelsey Swain Longwell, was another key piece to the puzzle for Capital softball during the mid 2010s. LeAnna's career was highlighted by one of the most dominant seasons in collegiate softball, ending with her selection as an NFCA All-American in 2015. LeAnna currently sees her name atop two program records and in the all-time lists for several others. Her two school records are single-season RBIs (72 in 2015) and single-season doubles (17 in 2015). Additionally, LeAnna is second all-time in career home runs (28), fourth all-time in single-season home runs (10 in 2015), fourth all-time in career RBIs (144) and sixth all-time in career doubles (33). 

Her play on the softball diamond was awarded with the All-American honor, NFCA All-Region first team and the Gayle Lauth OAC Player of the Year award in 2015. She was also a two-time All-OAC selection in softball, earning honorable mention accolades in 2014 and first team honors in 2015. She was also recognized as Academic All-Conference in 2013. 

Throughout her softball career, LeAnna was a part of the team that amassed 105 wins and won the 2013 OAC Championship and earned a place in the NCAA Tournament that same season. 

In addition to her abilities on the softball field, LeAnna embodied the two-sport athlete model as a volleyball player as well. In her time on the volleyball team, she played under legendary coach and fellow hall of fame inductee Pam Briggs, and the team won 58 matches during that stretch of time. In 2012, LeAnna earned Academic All-Conference in volleyball as well. 

Steve Furniss has been a mainstay at the Capital Basketball scorer's table for the better part of 40 years. Starting off as a shot clock operator in Alumni Gymnasium, Furniss eventually took over as the Official Scorer for both the men's and women's basketball teams – a role he still holds today. Furniss has been on the scorer's table for several high-level events on Capital's campus as well as in the central Ohio area. As a shot clock operator, he has been a part of the 1984 NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Tournament and the 1985 NCAA DIII Women's Basketball National Championship hosted by Capital. From there, Furniss worked as the Official Scorer for the 2016 NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Final Four, the 2021 NCAA DII Elite Eight, Final Four and National Championship, and the 2024 NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Final Four and National Championship. Additionally, he was the Standby Official Scorer for the 2018 NCAA DI Final Four and National Championship hosted by Ohio State. 

Furniss has not only made his career scoring basketball, but he has also poured in plenty of time officiating both basketball and football. He was a football official for 18 years and after retiring, he became an Evaluator and eventually the Coordinator of Football Officials for the Ohio Athletic Conference. As a basketball official, Furniss served the game for 16 years. 

Steve and his wife Rita – who serves as the "Official Table Mom" for Capital Basketball – have two daughters, Stephanie Rich (Keith) and Lindsay Harter (Melvin), and five grandchildren. The couple resides in Reynoldsburg. When away from the game before his retirement, Steve worked for TS Tech America, a Tier 1 Supplier for Honda. There, he specialized in facility construction and start-up, facility management, plant management and corporate management. He will enter year 41 with Capital basketball in the 2025-26 season.

This induction class will be honored with a breakfast ceremony on Saturday, October 25th as part of Capital's Homecoming and Alumni weekend. In addition to the ceremony, the seven honorees will be recognized at halftime of the Homecoming football game vs. Otterbein which kicks off at 1:30 p.m. If you are interested in attending the event, please visit capconnect.org/homecoming for more information. 

If you are interested in nominating a former student-athlete, coach or team for the next Hall of Fame Class, please complete the form by clicking here.