Skanes 6th in triple jump; lone All-American in both horizontal jumps
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The higher the stakes, the more likely it seems Imani Skanes will produce something special.
The College of Saint Mary freshman earned her second All-America honors of the 2026 NAIA Outdoor National Championships and third of her career with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump at Karl Straus Track. Her fifth attempt measured 11.96 meters (39 feet, 3 inches), which is a program record and followed Wednesday's fourth-place finish in the long jump.
A deeper look at Thursday's performance revealed the greatness of her achievement.
*Skanes qualified 17th among the 21 competitors, so she moved up a whopping 11 spots to place sixth.
*Of the 21 entries, Skanes was the only athlete to record a personal best. And she did it twice. Down to her final jump of the prelims and needing something special to even advance to the finals, Skanes produced a program-record jump of 11.91 (39-1) to reach the finals. That record lasted only a few minutes, because she went to 11.96 a few minutes later.
*Skanes was the only NAIA woman to earn All-America honors in both of the horizontal jumps.
"Absolutely incredible!'' CSM Coach Steve Gordon Jr. said. "She's pushing that 6m/12m combo. Dual jumpers who are actually proficient at both are rare! Just an amazing week for the young lady!''
Skanes has eclipsed 6 meters in the long jump with a best of 6.12. She's now four centimeters from reaching the 12-meter milestone in the triple jump.
Skanes' teammate, Allison Isaacson, made her debut in the national meet on Thursday and also fared well. She qualified 16th in the triple jump and finished 16th, going 11.24 (36-10½).