Safety Haley Van Voorhis is the first female non-kicker to appear in an NCAA football game at any level ©Twitter

Haley Van Voorhis has become the first female non-kicker to appear in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football game at any level, after the safety featured for Shenandoah University against Juniata.

Van Voorhis came on during the first quarter of the match with Shenandoah leading by 26 points, before they went on to win 48-7.

Speaking about her achievement after the match Van Voorhis said: "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 is a sprinter as part of Shenandoah’s track and field team.

Multiple women have played kicking positions, with Katie Hnida in 2003 the first woman to score in an NCAA Division I-A football game as the placekicker for New Mexico.

In 2020, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power 5 football game, as the kicker for Vanderbilt.

Van Voorhis, who attended Christchurch School near Virginia, was a member of the school’s football, basketball and lacrosse teams.