Jackson State football will now be getting all of Leilani Armenta’s talents.
The freshman kicker made history this season when she became the first woman kicker in an HBCU football game and first to score in a Division I game a few months later. Now she says she’s concentrating solely on kicking for football.
“I would like to thank God, my parents and everyone who has supported me in my life. With that being said, I will be stepping away from soccer and pursuing collegiate football as a kicker,” Armenta tweeted. “It has been my dream to play Division I football and playing for Coach TC Taylor has been a blessing. I am very thankful for the opportunity to continue playing for such an amazing program. I will continue pursuing my football career at Jackson State University and I would like to thank the Tiger family for supporting me and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the JSU football program.”
Armenta made her debut with Jackson State football against Bethune-Cookman in September, kicking the ball off after injuries sidelined all JSU’s available kickers. A few weeks later she made history again when she kicked multiple extra points in JSU’s 40-14 win over Arkanas-Pine Bluff.