Haley Van Voorhis made history at the weekend by becoming the first female football player to appear in an NCAA football game outside of the kicker position.
Van Voorhis, a safety at Division-III Shenandoah University, came on with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter of her team’s 48-7 victory over Juniata College on Saturday.
The 19-year-old registered a quarterback hurry after tackling the Juniata QB just after he had released the ball, resulting in an incomplete pass.
“It’s an amazing thing,” Van Voorhis told the Washington Post. “I just wanted to get out and do my thing. I want to show other people this is what women can do, to show what I can do.
“It’s a big moment. I made the impossible possible, and I’m excited about that.”
Van Voorhis, a 5-foot-6, 145-pound junior, was also the first girl to play high school football at Christchurch, according to the Washington Post, where she was named team captain.
University president Tracy Fitzsimmons called it “an extraordinary accomplishment for women everywhere.”
“I am so happy for Haley because she’s earned this. We always say we’re a place for opportunity at Shenandoah, and we proved it again today,” Fitzsimmons said, per Washington Post.
Back in 2020, Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller became the first woman in history to score in a Power Five college game when she successfully kicked two extra points against the University of Tennessee.