Thursday, June 11
Eugene, Ore.
8:40 PM
Creighton University
at
NCAA Final Round
Trinity Shadd-Ceres
Photo by: Nate Barrett
Shadd-Ceres Jumps To First Team All-America Honors!
6/11/2026 9:55:00 PM | Women's Cross Country / Track
Redshirt freshman places sixth nationally in the long jump
EUGENE, Ore. -- Trinity Shadd-Ceres became Creighton Track's first All-American in program history on Thursday night as the redshirt freshman placed sixth in the long jump at the 2026 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Shadd-Ceres' top jump of 6.52 meters (21' 4.75") was good enough to place her sixth among the field of 24 competitors and land her First Team All-America accolades.
Shadd-Ceres qualified for the meet with a jump of 6.44 meters that was the 25th-best mark in the country this spring, and 17th among qualifiers for the NCAA Finals, but she exceeded that figure twice on a beautiful night in Tracktown USA.
Each participant got three preliminary jumps, with the top nine advancing to the finals to earn three additional attempts. Shadd-Ceres was in third place after the first round, jumping a season-best (at the time) of 6.46 meters (21' 2.5"). As it turned out, a jump of 6.44 meters would have qualified Shadd-Ceres for the final rounds.Â
Her second jump was 6.30 meters (20' 8"). By that point, her initial jump had her in fifth place heading into the final of her initial three leaps.
Shadd-Ceres had fallen to seventh place heading into her third jump, needing a top-nine finish to earn three additional attempts and a shot at First Team All-America accolades. The Ontario, Canada native responded with the best jump of her life, going 6.52 meters (21' 4.75") to move into a tie for sixth place.  Shadd-Ceres' distance tonight surpassed her previous lifetime-best of 6.49 meters (21' 3.5") done on August 5, 2023.
Shadd-Ceres fourth jump was 6.04 (19' 9.75") before she fouled on her fifth attempt, but she remained tied for sixth heading into her the final round of the competition. She would pass on her final jump attempt.
Shadd-Ceres, who didn't start competing for the Creighton Track teams until May 2nd after finishing up the spring volleyball season, had won three of her first four competitions as a Bluejay, emerging victorious at the Musco Twilight (May 2), Nebraska Spring Tune-Up (May 8) and BIG EAST Championships (May 15). She had become the Creighton's first individual champion at a BIG EAST Championship on May 15th with a leap of 6.36 meters (20' 10.5").
Following the meet, Shadd-Ceres cited how her mindset helped her. "I think it was because I was having fun with it," noted Shadd-Ceres. "I had felt no pressure from myself or anyone else throughout this whole competition, which is something I had never experienced in this sport before The no pressure allowed me to let loose, be free and jump big.Â
Shadd-Ceres added that today exceeded her expectations. "This is awesome. I definitely was not expecting this. My main goal with Gannon has been to have fun with the sport again and re-learning how to have fun with it and take it day-by-day. I'm so honored and blessed to be First Team All-American and even making the finals was awesome. I couldn't have done it without any of the support from track or volleyball. Just everyone in the Creighton community has been amazing."
"It's pretty incredible," said Gannon, who was hired in 2018 and has built the track program from scratch. "A lot of credit goes to how good an athlete and how great a person she is, and how she continues to demand excellence of herself. For her to have a lifetime best jump at the biggest meet of the year with as little track-specific and long jump-specific fitness and training that we've had is really incredible and speaks volumes for her. It's a big moment for her. I'm glad she's been able to get back to doing something that she loves and finding joy in that again is pretty awesome.
"Four years ago we didn't have a track program. It's just finding a way to make it work. We've said all along we can build something here and have it be something special. I keep going back to our motto to 'dream big and work hard' and today's just another opportunity to raise the floor and continue to strive for what's next."
Creighton ran its first official NCAA track season since 1961 during the spring of 2022 as a distance-based track program, utilizing the cross country roster, and has slowly added to that in various field events. The Bluejay program is led by head coach Chris Gannon and assistant coach Matthew Fayers.
Shadd-Ceres made history as Creighton's first female track & field athlete to qualify for the NCAA First Round, which she competed in on May 28th.Â
Stanford's Alyssa Jones set an NCAA Championships record by jumping 7.06 meters (23' 2") to win the competition by 0.37 meters over Clemson's Shantae Foreman.
Shadd-Ceres' top jump of 6.52 meters (21' 4.75") was good enough to place her sixth among the field of 24 competitors and land her First Team All-America accolades.
Shadd-Ceres qualified for the meet with a jump of 6.44 meters that was the 25th-best mark in the country this spring, and 17th among qualifiers for the NCAA Finals, but she exceeded that figure twice on a beautiful night in Tracktown USA.
Each participant got three preliminary jumps, with the top nine advancing to the finals to earn three additional attempts. Shadd-Ceres was in third place after the first round, jumping a season-best (at the time) of 6.46 meters (21' 2.5"). As it turned out, a jump of 6.44 meters would have qualified Shadd-Ceres for the final rounds.Â
Her second jump was 6.30 meters (20' 8"). By that point, her initial jump had her in fifth place heading into the final of her initial three leaps.
Shadd-Ceres had fallen to seventh place heading into her third jump, needing a top-nine finish to earn three additional attempts and a shot at First Team All-America accolades. The Ontario, Canada native responded with the best jump of her life, going 6.52 meters (21' 4.75") to move into a tie for sixth place.  Shadd-Ceres' distance tonight surpassed her previous lifetime-best of 6.49 meters (21' 3.5") done on August 5, 2023.
Shadd-Ceres fourth jump was 6.04 (19' 9.75") before she fouled on her fifth attempt, but she remained tied for sixth heading into her the final round of the competition. She would pass on her final jump attempt.
Shadd-Ceres, who didn't start competing for the Creighton Track teams until May 2nd after finishing up the spring volleyball season, had won three of her first four competitions as a Bluejay, emerging victorious at the Musco Twilight (May 2), Nebraska Spring Tune-Up (May 8) and BIG EAST Championships (May 15). She had become the Creighton's first individual champion at a BIG EAST Championship on May 15th with a leap of 6.36 meters (20' 10.5").
Following the meet, Shadd-Ceres cited how her mindset helped her. "I think it was because I was having fun with it," noted Shadd-Ceres. "I had felt no pressure from myself or anyone else throughout this whole competition, which is something I had never experienced in this sport before The no pressure allowed me to let loose, be free and jump big.Â
Shadd-Ceres added that today exceeded her expectations. "This is awesome. I definitely was not expecting this. My main goal with Gannon has been to have fun with the sport again and re-learning how to have fun with it and take it day-by-day. I'm so honored and blessed to be First Team All-American and even making the finals was awesome. I couldn't have done it without any of the support from track or volleyball. Just everyone in the Creighton community has been amazing."
"It's pretty incredible," said Gannon, who was hired in 2018 and has built the track program from scratch. "A lot of credit goes to how good an athlete and how great a person she is, and how she continues to demand excellence of herself. For her to have a lifetime best jump at the biggest meet of the year with as little track-specific and long jump-specific fitness and training that we've had is really incredible and speaks volumes for her. It's a big moment for her. I'm glad she's been able to get back to doing something that she loves and finding joy in that again is pretty awesome.
"Four years ago we didn't have a track program. It's just finding a way to make it work. We've said all along we can build something here and have it be something special. I keep going back to our motto to 'dream big and work hard' and today's just another opportunity to raise the floor and continue to strive for what's next."
Creighton ran its first official NCAA track season since 1961 during the spring of 2022 as a distance-based track program, utilizing the cross country roster, and has slowly added to that in various field events. The Bluejay program is led by head coach Chris Gannon and assistant coach Matthew Fayers.
Shadd-Ceres made history as Creighton's first female track & field athlete to qualify for the NCAA First Round, which she competed in on May 28th.Â
Stanford's Alyssa Jones set an NCAA Championships record by jumping 7.06 meters (23' 2") to win the competition by 0.37 meters over Clemson's Shantae Foreman.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
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Thursday, May 28
Wednesday, May 27
