2025 SALEM ACADEMY & COLLEGE HALL OF FAME PHOTO GALLERY
2025 SALEM ACADEMY & COLLEGE VIDEO (1 of 2)
2025 SALEM ACADEMY & COLLEGE VIDEO (2 of 2)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – On the evening of April 10th, the Salem Academy andand College Department of Athletics inducted its second-ever Hall of Fame class during a ceremony held on campus at Bryant Hall. 

Among the 2025 Salem Academy and College Hall of Fame inductees were Jay Callahan, Kim Clarke (Salem Academy, '76), Sawyer Ferguson (Salem College, '15), Rachel Fichthorn Cleveland (Salem College, '09) and Lorie Howard along with the 2013 Salem College soccer team. 

Salem Academy & College established an Athletics Hall of Fame to honor exemplary former student-athletes, administrators and others who have been integral to the school's athletics program. Salem's inaugural Hall of Fame ceremony took place in early 2019 and included the induction of six honorees: Chuck Blixt, Jane Barkman Brown, Dianne Dailey, Sarah 'Sally' Colhoun Engram, Robert Esleeck and Laura Sides Watson.

"Salem Academy and College is proud to recognize these remarkable competitors, teammates, coaches, administrators and supporters as among the very best of what Salem athletics has been," said Salem Academy and College President Summer McGee, PhD, CPH. "Their accomplishments are truly remarkable."

Jay Callahan | Head Coach | Salem College Soccer
Jay Callahan capped off his 10-year coaching stint at Salem College with a 140-43-8 mark, resulting in a .773 career winning percentage in that stretch. That gives him the most wins and best-winning percentage in program history. 
 
Callahan, who had just one season with a below .500 mark (7-8, 2008), won at least 11 matches in nine straight seasons. Callahan defended the home turf of Varsity Field to the tune of a 69-13-3 record and had a highly successful Great South Athletic Conference mark of 56-10-12 record, which resulted in a .824 winning percentage. During three years (2013-15), Callahan led the team to a perfect league-action record. 
 
Callahan also guided the Spirits to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which came in 2013, resulting in a 15-4-2 season. The following season, Salem made a return trip to the NCAA Tournament, where it finished 18-5-0. This marked the first of two 18-win seasons for Salem under Callahan's direction, with the second coming in 2016 when the Spirits were 18-2-1.

Kim Clarke | Salem Academy 1976 | Tennis / Basketball / Field Hockey
Kim Stafford Clarke graduated from Salem Academy in 1976 before attending North Carolina where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies, earning the highest honors in her class along the way. After completing her degree in Chapel Hill, Clarke earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law. 

Clarke was a multi-sport athlete during all four years at Salem Academy, competing on the tennis, basketball and field hockey programs. In her junior season she served as team captain of the tennis team. While at Salem Academy, Clarke was ranked fifth in singles and second in doubles in tennis action throughout the state of North Carolina. She was also named as a member of Athletic Council during for three years and earned the distinction of being a Gold Team Head as a senior, which came as part of an intramural rivalry.  

Clarke was one of the first women to receive the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship that allowed her to attend North Carolina to pursue her college education. She credits Salem Academy, and her time as a student-athlete, with the ability to apply the "evidence of physical vigor" which is required to earn the scholarship. As a result of her athletic success at Salem Academy, Clarke was able to compete at a collegiate level in both tennis and field hockey for the Tar Heels. She also played alto saxophone in the North Carolina Marching Band.

Sawyer Ferguson | Salem College 2015 | Soccer
Sawyer Ferguson wrapped up a four-year career at Salem College by appearing in 62 matches and making 52 starts. Between the 2011-14 seasons, Ferguson tallied a program-record 46 goals while dishing out 16 assists to close with 108 points. She tallied 108 shots on goal, delivering 15 game-winning goals for her team. During Ferguson's four-year stretch, the Spirits reached two NCAA Tournaments (2013-14) and were dominant on the pitch with a 60-17-5 overall record and a 23-3-1 mark in the Great South Athletic Conference. In Ferguson's four-year stretch at Salem, the Spirits dropped five home matches at Varsity Field.  
 
Entering the 2024 campaign, Ferguson led the program in career goals scored (46), career points (108), game-winning goals (15), ranked fifth in career shots on goal (108), sixth in career shot percentage (.269), and ranked seventh in both career shots (171) and career assists (16) in program history. In a season, Ferguson sits atop the program marks in goals scored (19, 2012), points (45, 2012), and game-winning goals (9, 2012) and is among the Top 15 in 12 other significant statistics.

Rachel Fichthorn | Salem College 2009 | Cross Country / Swimming
Rachel Fichthorn was a two-sport student-athlete at Salem College, competing in cross country and swimming. 
 
Fichthorn competed in swimming between 2007 and 2009, participating in 15 individual races and seven team events. She capped off her career by finishing in the Top 3 of 11 separate races, including four first-place finishes. Additionally, Fichthorn placed second in two team events in the 2007-08 season. 
 
In 2008, Fichthorn competed on the cross-country team, earning two first-place finishes. The first came at the Salem College Invitational, and the second at the Raleigh Women's Invitational. She was also second at the Maroon Invitational and third in the Great South Athletic Conference Championship that season. She was the first Salem runner to win a cross-country event outright and is the only runner in program history to have multiple first-place finishes.

Lorie Howard | Athletic Director | Salem Academy 
Lorie Howard served as the Director of Athletics at Salem Academy for 30 years between 1990 and 2020. 

After serving as the Director of Physical Education at Westchester Country Day School for five years, between 1985 and 1990, Howard accepted the position as Director of Athletics at Salem Academy. Along with that role, she coached the varsity tennis and basketball programs, while serving as the junior varsity soccer coach. As a coach, Howard captured Basketball Coach of the Year on three occasions (1987, 1988, 1990) and was named Tennis Coach of the Year in 1989. 

With Howard at the helm, Salem Academy hosted multiple North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association tournaments for tennis, volleyball, softball and field hockey. Additionally, she developed the Preseason Sports Camp at Salem Academy for all incoming fall student-athletes, which spanned from 2008-2020.

2013 Salem College Soccer Team 
The 2013 Salem Soccer unit became the first in team history to reach the NCAA Tournament, which resulted in a clash with Hanover on November 16th. 

The Spirits opened the season with a 3-0-2 mark under the direction of head coach Jay Callahan, claiming wins over N.C. Wesleyan, Guilford and Greensboro along with ties against Meredith and Methodist, both going to double overtime. 

Callahan and his unit amped up their defense, allowing just two goals throughout the course of October, while scoring 43 goals on offense, winning eight straight matches. The Spirits tallied at least four goals in all but one match during the streak as they rolled through Great South Athletic Conference play. 

The success from October continued in early November as Salem posted a 5-0 win over Mills and a 2-0 victory against Agnes Scott to claim the Great South Athletic Conference crown and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

The Spirits faced Hanover in their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, suffering a 2-1 setback.

2013 Salem Spirits Soccer Team Members 
Deanna Andrews
Tarryn Bundy
Morgan Canepa
Victoria Chaffers
Jocelyn Evans
Sawyer Ferguson
Paige Hamilton
Courtney Hedgecock
Jacqueline Hogg
Stephanie Hubbard
Heather Huffman
Sierra Hutchins
Becky Irvin
Destinee Jimenez
Bethany Kent
Paige Ketchum
Michelle Lawler
Amber Lee
Alexis Malena
Meghan Menard
Nataly Mojica
Taylor Norman
Kenzie Rathe
Summer Rich
Mackenzie Schmidt
Liz Smetana
Stephanie Verdi