Haley Van Voorhis, a safety at Division-III Shenandoah University, became the first woman non-kicker to appear in an NCAA football game on Saturday against Juniata.
She came on in the first quarter and registered a quarterback hurry on third down.
A 5-foot-6, 145-pound junior, Van Voorhis spent the past two seasons playing on junior varsity. The Plains, Virginia, native went to high school at Christchurch and was 2019 All-State Honorable Mention. Her senior season was cancelled because of COVID-19.
Van Voorhis is also a member of Shenandoah’s track and field team, running sprints.
In 2014, defensive back Shelby Osborne became the first woman non-kicker to participate in an NAIA program at Campbellsville University. However, she did not appear in a game.
Multiple women have played kicking positions in college football. In 2003, Katie Hnida became the first woman to score in an NCAA Division I-A football game as the placekicker at New Mexico. Seventeen years later, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power 5 football game as the kicker for Vanderbilt.
In an interview with ESPN in 2021, Van Voorhis said she’s used to people pointing out that…
