Akeya Aimable came to Wartburg four years ago as a highly decorated high school sprinter. But a jumper she was not.

However, Wartburg’s jumps coach, Dave Sage, saw something early while watching Aimable in practice drills – even before she became a three-time all-American in sprint relays.

“We would do squat jumps and I would say, ‘Coach (Wartburg head coach Marcus Newsom), look at her beside the guys. She’s jumping further than the guys.’ ”

Sage continued to talk up Aimable’s raw talent until Newsom agreed to let the senior experiment in the triple jump this year. She proved to be a natural, winning the Division III indoor national championship just six weeks after her first meet.

“There was no awkward part of it for her, from the very first time she went down the runway and did it,” Sage said. “We did real short approaches and did short stuff. I had to sit down on a chair, my heart was pounding so much. I was just amazed at how easy it was for her to do it.”

Aimable, from Waterloo, Iowa, didn’t debut in her new event until Wartburg’s fourth indoor meet – a home dual meet January 31 against Augustana (Illinois). Despite using a short approach and slow, deliberate style, she managed to win her first triple jump at 36 feet, 6 ¼ inches.

“I was obviously convinced after the first meet,” Newsom said. “I actually told coach Sage, ‘I shouldn’t have waited as long as I did to agree to this.’”

Approaching from just 52 feet away, Aimable’s leap nearly set a school record.

“The coaches from the other teams were saying, ‘Why are you only going 52 feet and at half speed?’ Sage said. “And I said, ‘Because she’s learning.’ ”

Sage moved Aimable back on the runway to 62 feet the next week at the Wartburg Select, and she promptly broke the school record for the first time at 38-2¾ (11.65 meters), a provisional qualifying jump. He then had her move back farther as she won at the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference indoor championships and set a new meet record (37-10½) February 28. One week later at Iowa State she broke the school record again – this time automatically qualifying for the Division III Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships with a jump of 39-1¼ (11.92 meters).

“I started getting confidence the second meet when I got 11.60 (meters), and I was like, ‘Wow, this is kind of fun and I like doing this. I could do this more,’ ” Aimable said. “And then once we got to the Iowa State qualifier, and I got 11.9, I was like, ‘Hmm, this is going to be interesting (at nationals).’ ”

“That was nerve-wracking, too (at the Iowa State meet),” she said. “Being new to it and knowing some of them (the other jumpers) had been doing it for years, I knew they would go a lot farther than I would. But I just kind of stuck to my guns and did what I had to do to get where I could get that automatic mark.”

She took a full approach at the NCAA Division III meet and beat defending champion Caitlin Schetter of Wisconsin-La Crosse, soaring to yet another school record at 39-6. Aimable’s jump was equally big for the team, which beat La Crosse for its first indoor team title, 51-41.5.

“Oh, it was big,” Newsom said. “I think her performance kicked off day two, and it really just gave us a huge lift momentum-wise just for everybody to start to perform after that. So I think what she did made a significant difference in the outcome of our national meet.”

Aimable just wanted to make the finals.

“It was my first time and I just wanted to do something,” she said. “But going into finals, that was when I started getting into it a little bit more and getting more motivation and drive just to get out there and do my best.”

Aimable’s learning curve has continued into the outdoor season, where she has been learning how to contend with jumping amid the wind, rain and cold. She’s also learning what it’s like to compete as a national champion.

She got a good education at April’s Drake Relays. Aimable was the only Division III jumper invited to complete in the University/College Division competition. Amid a cold, steady rain, she struggled with the elements and strained a hamstring in the process.

She recovered to post a provisional qualifying mark of 38-11 last week, making her one of the 10 best qualifiers for this weekend’s Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Marietta. Regardless of how she fares there, Aimable has written a remarkable story.

“I kind of wanted to go out my senior year with a bang,” she said. “I always thought I could at least be an all-American, but I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be a national champion.”