Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Sarah (Crosby) Payne enters her seventh season with the Norse and her second as the program's Director of Sports Performance in 2023-24, elevating herself to the top role in the department after she served as the interim director in 2021-22.

Payne joined Northern Kentucky during the 2017-18 season after she served as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Michigan State University. While with the Spartans, she worked with 16 Olympic sports. She was the lead with the MSU women's basketball while also assisting with baseball, softball, volleyball, women's novice rowing and women's tennis.

Payne is also an alumna of Michigan State and was a student-athlete on the varsity rowing squad. She earned her B.S. in Kinesiology with a concentration in health promotions and coaching in 2015 and obtained an M.S. in Kinesiology with a concentration in strength and conditioning in 2017.

In her role at NKU, Crosby oversees all aspects of the daily operations of the Truist Arena weight room and leads a staff of one other full-time strength coach along with one graduate assistant strength coach. Crosby also holds certifications in CSCSa-SCCC and NSCA-CSCS.

In her initial onboard with the Norse, Crosby served as the assistant strength coach for baseball, softball, track/field & cross country. Since taking the director role, Payne now works with women’s basketball, softball, men’s and women’s golf and the men's and women's cross country programs. She also serves as a Student Athlete Academic Committee (SAAC) chair representative for Northern Kentucky Athletics.