Posted - July 24, 2002 3:01pm
State College, Pa. (AP) - A former soccer
player who kicked a career-long 36-yard
field goal in high school will try out next
month to be the first woman to play football
for Penn State.
Stephanie Weimer, a three-year starter at place-kicker for Serra
Catholic in McKeesport, Pa., will try out with other potential
walk-ons when classes start in August.
She will have her work cut out for her - Penn State already has
three place-kickers on the roster, including two with game
experience. Robbie Gould, who started last year as a true
freshman, has hit six of 10 tries, including a career-long 46-yard
score, and was a perfect 29-of-29 on extra points. David Kimball,
who often handles kickoffs, is 0-3 on field goals and 3-4 on extra
points.
But Tom Nola, who coached the 5-foot-4, 120-pound Weimer at Serra, said he thinks she has what it
takes.
"She's a competitor like most boys are," Nola said. "She's very consistent. If she had to kick 100 times
from 30 yards in, I would say she makes 98 of them."
Even if she makes the team, Weimer won't be the first woman to suit up for an NCAA Division I-A
football program. Heather Sue Mercer made the team at Duke - then won a $2 million discrimination
lawsuit after she was cut from the team. Louisville and Colorado also have had women on their rosters,
but none ever took the field.
In 1997, Liz Heaston became the first woman to score in a college game, kicking two extra points for
Willamette, which was then an NAIA school. Last year, Jacksonville State's Ashley Martin became the
first woman in NCAA Division I-AA to score, kicking four extra points.
No woman has kicked a field goal in collegiate play.
Weimer first played soccer at Serra, but quit after her freshman year in order to concentrate on
football, where she was a three-year starter.
She kicked three field goals her sophomore year, but her season ended early when a Greensburg
Central Catholic player dove into her right knee, tearing three ligaments. That summer, Weimer
attended Penn State's kicking camp. She connected on one of two tries as a junior before an injury
again shortened her season.
Her six field goals last year were the most among WPIAL Class A schools.
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