Liz Heaston
| Willamette Bearcats – No. 39[1] | |
|---|---|
| Position | Placekicker |
| Class | Graduate |
| Major | Biology |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | 1977 (age 47–48) Richland (WA) |
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) |
| Weight | 120 lb (54 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| High school | Richland |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Elizabeth Heaston Thompson (born 1977) is an American athlete who is the first woman ever to score in a college football game. She accomplished this feat on October 18, 1997 as a placekicker for the Willamette Bearcats football team of Willamette University, which then competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) for small colleges.[2] She also played women's soccer for Willamette as a defender.[3] Heaston's accomplishment was widely noted by the media and the sports community.
Life
Heaston was raised in Richland, Washington.[4][5] After graduating she enrolled at Willamette University, where she became a star soccer player, earning All-American honorable mention in 1996 and 1997.[6] In 1997 she joined the football team as a backup placekicker. She became the first woman to play and score points in a college football game during a match between Willamette and Linfield College on October 18, 1997. The 5-foot-5-inch, 120-pound soccer player entered the game as a replacement kicker for Willamette and kicked two extra points as her team won 27-0.[6] The accomplishment resulted in interviews with The Today Show and CBS This Morning.[7]
Heaston's football career lasted two games; she made two of four extra point attempts.[8][9] Her jersey hangs on display at the College Football Hall of Fame.[10]
The following year Heaston played only soccer at Willamette, and graduated with a biology degree in 1999.[6] She attended graduate school at Pacific University where she earned a doctorate in optometry and met her husband Trent Thompson.[6] She has one daughter, Isabella, and a son and lives and works in her hometown of Richland, Washington, where she works at her father's optometry office along with her husband.[6]
See also
- 1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game
- Tonya Butler, the first female to score a field goal in an NCAA game
- Sarah Fuller, the first woman to score in a Power Five conferences football game
- Katie Hnida, the first woman to score in a Division I-A game
- Ashley Martin, the first female to score in an NCAA game, and the first to score in a Division I game
- Haley Van Voorhis, the first female to play a non-kicking position in an NCAA game at any level
- List of female American football players
References
- ^ Trimble, Jamie (August 20, 2007). "Alumni Spotlight: Liz Heaston '99 Gets Kicks in more than One Sport". Willamette University Athletics. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
- ^ Woolum, Janet (1998). Outstanding women athletes: who they are and how they influenced sports in America. Oryx Press. p. 33. ISBN 1-57356-120-7.
+liz heaston +willamette.
- ^ "Elizabeth Heaston '99". Willamette Bearcats. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- ^ "Local woman makes college football history in 1997". NonStop Local Tri-Cities/Yakima. October 12, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
- ^ "Woman Kicks Extra Points". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 20, 1997. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e Timbrell, Jamie (August 20, 2007). "Alumni Spotlight: Liz Heaston'99 Gets Kicks in more than One Sport". Willamette University. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ Rios, Camila (October 12, 2018). "Local woman makes college football history in 1997". NZBC News Right Now-KNDU 25. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- ^ "Interview with Bob Ley". ESPN.com.
- ^ "Woman Kicks Extra Points". The New York Times. October 20, 1997. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ "College Football Week 7: In the Spotlight". Los Angeles Times. October 18, 1998. Retrieved March 9, 2012.