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Inducted 2007   Avelino Cortez grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Sullivan High School in 1983. He was the football team’s Most Valuable Player and an All-Area selection on the gridiron. He also lettered in basketball, served as a class officer, and was a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Club, and Science Club.
Cortez entered Lake Forest College in the fall of 1983 and immediately made an impact on the football field. He quarterbacked the squad to a 7-2 overall record, 4-0 mark in the Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference’s North Division, and its first MCAC title that season. He set what was then a school record with 13 touchdown passes and ranked among the top 10 in the nation in passing efficiency. Two years later he matched the touchdown total and passed for what was then a school record 1,911 yards. He also matched the record for touchdown passes in a game that season with four in a victory over Ripon College. Cortez was the team’s main signal-caller throughout his career and finished atop the program’s all-time list with 420 completions, 5,432 yards, and 41 touchdowns. The touchdown total was still a school record at the time of his induction and the other marks ranked among the top three. Lake Forest posted a 23-11 overall record and 16-9 conference mark in his four seasons combined. While a student at Lake Forest Cortez was also a member of the College Life Advisory Board and the Brotherhood Fraternity. After graduating in 1987 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business he went on to work in real estate and radio programming.
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