OMAHA, Neb. — Long-time Athletic Director and women's basketball coach Bruce Rasmussen headlines a group of five inductees that will comprise the class for the 2025 Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame.

The 56th Hall of Fame Class in school history features Rasmussen, Ethan Finlay (men's soccer), Marcy (Gans) Parker (women's soccer), Ryan Gripp (baseball) and Jaali Winters (volleyball).
 
It is the largest induction group of individuals ever. The quintet will give the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame 103 inductees, plus the 1991 Creighton Baseball Team.

The Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame started in 1968 with the induction of Bluejay great Bob Gibson.
 
The 2025 Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Thursday, October 16th inside D.J. Sokol Arena. To purchase your tickets and learn more about the evening's event, please visit  https://alumni.creighton.edu/halloffame25.

Ethan Finlay, Men's Soccer, 2008-11
Ethan Finlay was the definition of clutch throughout his time as a standout on the Creighton men’s soccer team from 2008-11, leading the Missouri Valley Conference in game-winning goals all four seasons. Each of his first three career goals were game-winners, and he also scored the lone goal of the 2008 MVC title game late in his freshman season. His final collegiate goal in 2011, in overtime against South Florida, helped the Bluejays return to the College Cup for the first time since 2002. 

 

Finlay scored in 33 different contests as a Bluejay, with 20 of those accounting for the game-winning score. He ranks fourth in CU history with 10 multiple-goal games, his 43 goals rank fifth, and his 103 points remain sixth in program history.

 

A two-time MVC Player of the Year (2010, 2011), he was named a First Team All-American in 2011 and Second Team choice in 2010 while earning Creighton’s Male Athlete of the Year honors following both seasons. Finlay was one of three finalists for the top individual honor in college soccer, the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2011, when the Finance major was also a Second Team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American.

 

The Marshfield, Wis., native was the 10th overall pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew. He went on to score 60 goals and 42 assists during 335 games across 13 MLS seasons with the Columbus Crew, Minnesota United and Austin FC franchises. During his career, Finlay was also an executive board member of the Major League Soccer Players Association. The 2015 MLS All-Star made three appearances for the United States Men’s National Team in 2016.

 

Finlay retired from Major League Soccer following the 2024 season and resides in Round Rock, Texas, with his wife Hayley and their two children. He is currently a Corporate Partnerships Executive with Austin FC.


Marcy (Gans) Parker, Women’s Soccer, 2005-08
The Creighton women’s soccer record holder in goals (38) and points (91), Marcy (Gans) Parker joins the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame after starring for the Bluejays from 2005-08. Gans also remains the Morrison Stadium leader in goals (23), shots (156), shots on goal (69) and points (54).

The first two-time Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament MVP in league history (2005, 2007), Gans assisted the game-winning goal in the 2005 final and compiled a hat trick vs. Evansville in the 2007 semifinals. In the 2007 final against Illinois State, she assisted on an equalizer in the 87th minute, then scored in a shootout to help CU to the league tournament title.

 

She was a First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference pick in 2007 and 2008 after earning Third Team All-Valley accolades her first two seasons, making her one of five players in program history to earn All-Conference honors four times. 

Gans was a First Team Academic All-District selection in 2007 and a Third Team NSCAA Scholar All-American in both 2007 and 2008.

After graduating from Creighton in 2009 with an Exercise Science degree, she played for the Boston Renegades in the USL W-League, then served as an assistant coach at Kansas City and Avila. 

 

She is currently the Director of Results Administration and Operations with Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unite. Marcy and her husband Bradley Parker, a former Creighton men’s soccer goalkeeper, live in Stilwell, Kan., with their two kids.



Ryan Gripp, Baseball, 1997-99
Ryan Gripp enters the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame after dominating on the diamond for the Bluejay Baseball team from 1997-99. He is the 18th former Bluejay Baseball player to join the Hall of Fame as an individual.

The Indianola, Iowa, product hit .308 and became the second freshman in program history with 10 or more homers in 1997. He upped his average to .362 in 1998, again hitting 10 homers while driving in 56 men to go with 21 doubles and 16 stolen bases to earn Honorable Mention All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades. He closed out his sophomore season by hitting for the cycle in an MVC Tournament game against Wichita State.

 

Gripp developed into one of the best players in the country in 1999, earning First Team All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association and Second Team All-America clout from Baseball America. He batted .395 in 1999, setting school-records that still stand with 24 homers and an .807 slugging percentage, while also tying single-game marks for hits (6) and walks (5) in a game.

 

Though he only played three years at CU before becoming a third-round pick in the 1999 Major League Draft by the Chicago Cubs, Gripp’s name remains etched in the Bluejay record book. His 44 home runs are a school-record, and he remains in the top five in slugging percentage (3rd), RBI (4th), doubles (5th) and total bases (5th).

He spent eight seasons in the professional ranks, batting .283 with 97 homers while reaching as high as Double-A.

 

Gripp and his wife, Missy, have three children and reside in Indianola, Iowa. He is the owner of Gripp Painting & Drywall.


Bruce Rasmussen, Women’s Basketball 1980-92; Assistant AD 1992-94; Athletic Director 1994-2021
It’s hard to imagine where Creighton University and its athletic programs would be without the considerable impact that Bruce Rasmussen made on The Hilltop from 1980-2021.

In 27 years with Rasmussen as athletic director (1994-2021), Creighton won a combined 86 regular-season and conference tournament titles and made 90 postseason appearances while also making a transformational move to the BIG EAST in 2013. In addition to graduating outstanding student-athletes and record-breaking fundraising initiatives, Rasmussen helped oversee the construction of five new facilities that now make up much of Creighton’s East campus athletic corridor.

The Webster City, Iowa, native also had a knack when it came to identifying and hiring talented head coaches, including the winningest coaches in school history in men’s basketball (Dana Altman, and then Greg McDermott), women’s basketball (Jim Flanery), volleyball (Kirsten Bernthal Booth), baseball (Ed Servais), tennis (Tom Lilly), women’s soccer (Bruce Erickson) and men’s soccer (Bret Simon, and then Bob Warming).


Rasmussen became Division I’s first four-time recipient of the Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award (2004, 2010, 2015, 2019). He received the 2019 Gary Cunningham Lifetime Achievement Award from the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association, and in 2022 was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame.

Rasmussen spent five years on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Selection Committee, serving as its chairman in his final year in 2018, and was a member of the College World Series of Omaha Inc., Executive Committee, which helped select the downtown location for Charles Schwab Field Omaha and kept the Greatest Show on Dirt in Omaha.

Hired as Creighton’s women’s basketball head coach in 1980, Rasmussen went 196-147 in a dozen years at the helm. His final squad went 28-4 and was the first in program history to play in the NCAA Tournament. He then spent the next two years as Associate Athletic Director before his promotion to Athletic Director.

Rasmussen and his wife, Jill, reside in Omaha and have five children.


Jaali Winters, Volleyball, 2015-18

Jaali Winters wasted no time in elevating the Creighton Volleyball program to unprecedented levels during her career spanning from 2015 to 2018. With Winters leading the way, the Bluejays reached their first Sweet 16 during her freshman campaign in 2015, then advanced to their initial Elite Eight a season later.

Creighton won four BIG EAST regular-season titles and four BIG EAST Tournament titles with Winters, going a combined 77-3 against league competition.

One of five student-athletes in the history of Creighton Athletics to be a four-time First Team All-Conference selection, Winters was a three-time AVCA All-American and four-time AVCA All-East Region selection.

Winters was recognized by the BIG EAST as its 2015 Freshman of the Year, 2018 Player of the Year and the Conference Tournament MVP in both 2016 and 2018, but the honors didn’t stop there. She was also a two-time Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-American (2017, 2018), a two-time Creighton Athletics Female Athlete of the Year (2015-16 and 2018-19) and the 2015 AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year.

The Ankeny, Iowa product graduated with an incredible 96 school records (71 of which still stand), including career kills (1,843), career attack attempts (5,093), single-season kills (546) and single-season points (595.5).

Winters represented her country in the summer of 2017 when she spent two weeks in Croatia with the U.S. Volleyball Collegiate National Team, helping the American side to the European Global Challenge title.

After playing professionally in Spain, France and Greece, Winters now resides in Omaha, where she plays for LOVB Nebraska.