The Purdue University Northwest Athletics Department unveiled its 2023 Hall of Fame Class that includes three former student-athletes: Salvador Cordova (Men's Cross Country), Lori Haas-Conklin (Women's Tennis) and Kyleigh Payne (Softball). The three former PNW standouts will be inducted on Saturday, February 4 at 10:00 a.m., during an honorary brunch at the White Lodging School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Building on the Purdue Northwest Campus.
 
"On behalf of the Pride of PNW, I would like to congratulate Sal, Lori, and Kyleigh on being inducted into the Hall of Fame," said Director of Athletics Rick Costello. "Each one of these individuals were tremendous students and they are great ambassadors for PNW. Through their dedication and successes, this group helped build the foundation of PNW Pride Athletics."

Salvador Cordova '18 (Men's Cross Country)
Cordova re-wrote the record books for the cross country team during his time at Purdue Northwest. Cordova became the second runner in PNW history to qualify for the NAIA National Championships after finishing 15th at the CCAC Championships and was Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup National Semifinalist in 2018. He previously held the men's 8K record at 26.10 and is still in the Top 10 for PNW. He competed in over 25 meets for the men's cross country program and helped jump start the program. He served as the Vice President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for two years where he created a campus-wide initiative for sexual assault awareness, via ITsOnUs Campaign (Handprints for Hope). He collaborated with Multicultural Campus Council, Purdue University Northwest Police Department, Office of Dean of Students, Counseling Center, and campaigned on two campuses for students and staff to take pledge to end sexual assault.  Campaigned over a two-day period with over 450 participants. He also was the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Liaison to Association of Student Athletes for two years where he collaborated with student athletes across the NAIA to build better student athlete well-being at a national level and selected to participate at the NAIA National Convention on behalf of PNW in 2017 alongside 30 other student athletes that make up the Association of Student Athletes (ASA). Sal is also the current Assistant Director for Student Life, Programming and Administration at Purdue University Northwest and served previously as the Graduate Assistant for Academic Services for the PNW Pride.

Lori Haas-Conklin '16 (Women's Tennis)
Haas left her mark on the women's tennis program at Purdue Northwest. In 2015, she finished season with a school-record 11 wins, compiling an 11-3 overall mark at No. 1 singles, including  a 6-2 mark in conference matches, earned the first All-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference honor in program history after being named to the first team, named school's second first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, she is the current Purdue Northwest women's tennis career leader in wins, earned NAIA Daktronics Scholar-Athlete, and an All-Academic CCAC. In 2016, she was named CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, the first time in Purdue Calumet history, and earned CoSIDA Academic All-District. Lori is an attorney at Vernis & Bowling.

Kyleigh Payne '18 (Softball)
Payne was the top player for the softball program during her time at Purdue Northwest. Payne holds multiple records for the softball program. For a single season she holds: highest batting average (.436), highest slugging percentage (.852), highest on base percentage (.546), most runs scored (44-2018), most hits (70-2017), most triples (9-2018), most total bases (127-2018), most walks (29-2018), and most putouts (442-2017). She left her mark career wise as Payne holds career records in: highest batting average (.429), highest slugging percentage (.778), highest on base percentage (.511), most hits (135), most triples (12), tied with most homeruns (22), RBIs (92), total bases (245), and most putouts (846). Payne became the first Purdue Northwest athlete to earn a Player of the Year award from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in 2018 and earned First Team honors, was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II All-Midwest Region First Team in 2018, and was selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) NCAA Division II All-American Third Team in 2018. Kyleigh is the head softball coach at King University in Bristol, Tenn.

PNW Athletics is proud to honor these outstanding individuals. Tickets are required to attend the Hall of Fame Brunch/Induction Ceremony and tickets include complimentary access to the PNW basketball games against Ferris State.