Roxanne Chalifoux went viral one year ago when her team, Villanova, lost the NCAA Tournament’s Third Round by three points. She was a part of the Villanova band, specifically, a piccolo player, and expressed her despair at her team’s loss with tears as she played for them. TV cameras captured this, and from then on she was known as “Crying Piccolo Girl.”

Chalifoux was a biology major, a psychology minor, and four-year member of the school’s pep band. She’s currently in optometry school. The viral images brought her a lot, from a Kickstarter project to make her sad image into a bobblehead to Taylor Swift tickets, even a spot on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (pictured).


“I hate seeing the team when they’re sad, and I was sad because I was leaving the band,” explained Chalifoux, who graduated last May, told ABC NEWS, “It was just a really emotional moment… that someone caught on camera, I guess.”

This year, however, Villanova got the honor of NCAA Champions. Maybe they were spurred on by last year’s emotional outburst. Either way, Chalifoux is happy tweeting:


And officially announcing her retirement:


This was Villanova’s first national title in 31 years. Chalifloux flew in to watch the game.

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