Liz Heaston

Last updated
Liz Heaston
Willamette Bearcats–No. 39 [1]
Position Placekicker
ClassGraduate
Major Biology
Personal information
Born:1977 (age 46–47)
Richland (WA)
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight120 lb (54 kg)
Career history
College
High school Richland
Career highlights and awards
  • First woman to play and score in college football

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.

Contents

Life

Heaston was raised in Richland, Washington. After graduating she enrolled at Willamette University, where she became a star soccer player, earning All-American honorable mention in 1996 and 1997. [4] 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. [4] The accomplishment resulted in interviews with The Today Show and CBS This Morning . [5]

Heaston's football career lasted two games; she made two of four extra point attempts. [6] [7] Her jersey hangs on display at the College Football Hall of Fame. [8]

The following year Heaston played only soccer at Willamette, and graduated with a biology degree in 1999. [4] She attended graduate school at Pacific University where she earned a doctorate in optometry and met her husband Trent Thompson. [4] 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. [4]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Trimble, Jamie (August 20, 2007). "Alumni Spotlight: Liz Heaston '99 Gets Kicks in more than One Sport". Willamette University Athletics . Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ "Elizabeth Heaston '99". Willamette Bearcats . Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Timbrell, Jamie (August 20, 2007). "Alumni Spotlight: Liz Heaston'99 Gets Kicks in more than One Sport". Willamette University. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  5. ↑ Rios, Camila (October 12, 2018). "Local woman makes college football history in 1997". NZBC News Right Now-KNDU 25 . Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Interview with Bob Ley". ESPN.com.
  7. ↑ "Woman Kicks Extra Points". The New York Times. October 20, 1997. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  8. ↑ "College Football Week 7: In the Spotlight". Los Angeles Times . October 18, 1998. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
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