What is Leilani Armenta's ethnicity? More about the first woman to score in an FCS HBCU game

Mexican-American kicker Leilani Armenta became the first woman to score at an FCS HBCU game during the weekend when she scored several extra points for the Jackson State Tigers in a game against Arkansas Pine-Bluff. She had played earlier in the season against the Bethune Cookman Wildcats.

Armenta had been struggling with an ACL injury that had restrained her ability to kick, and she was on a brace for a good part of the year. The freshman had initially wanted to be a soccer player, but she tore her ACL during her senior high school year. Her high school coach back then, Joseph Goyeneche, recounts what the doctor told her and her family:

“The doctor said, ‘Well, you’re not going to be able to play soccer this year. But we can hold off on surgery and it’s not going to get worse … you can kick and it’s going to be a little painful.'”

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What's Leilani Armenta's ethnicity?

A Mexican-American, she grew up in Ventura, California, where she attended St. High School. She shocked her high school coaches with her ability, with coach Joseph Goyeneche saying the following of her:

“She was the best freshman kicker that we had. There was no question she was the best that we had.”

In her high school career, Armenta made 98 out of 105 extra points attempted and was five for five in kicking field goals. Her longest kick was 30 yards, but Armenta recently told CNN she has been able to make a 46-yard successful attempt and is working with coaches to extend her range.

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Women in football at the college level

It's becoming ever more frequent for women to play football at the college level. Earlier in the year, Haley Van Voorhis became the first woman to play in a non-kicking role at the NCAA. She did so at the Div-III level with the University of Shenandoah. She played as a safety and was accredited a quarterback hurry.

Liz Heaston was the first woman to play at the college level in the NAIA in 1997 when she scored two extra points for Willamette. Katie Hnida was the first woman to play at the FBS level for the New Mexico Lobos in 2003 and also the first woman to play in a Div-I bowl game.

In 2020, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power Five game while playing for Vanderbilt.