SAN ANTONIO - Former UTSA track & field coach and athletics director Jim Skaines died on Saturday, Sept. 15.
A visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20, at Ebensberger-Fisher Funeral Home at 111 Rosewood Avenue in Boerne. A funeral mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church at 8500 Cross Mountain Trail in San Antonio. For more information, please visit http://www.ebensberger-fisher.com/obituaries/James-Marvin-Skaines-Sr?obId=3316104#/obituaryInfo.
Skaines was the first head coach of the UTSA men's and women's track & field programs from 1981 to 1985. He also was the second athletics director in school history, holding the position from 1985 to 1988. After four years as an independent, he helped place the Roadrunners in their first conference, the Trans America Athletic Conference (now Atlantic Sun), in 1986.
Skaines then served in a variety of roles within the department, including as associate athletics director for compliance for six years, before retiring in 1996. He stepped back into athletics for one year as UTSA's interim athletics director in 1999 before retiring for good.
As head coach of the Roadrunners, he mentored UTSA's first All-American in Starlight Williams. The two-sport athlete placed eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 12.64 meters (41-5 3/4) at the 1985 NCAA Outdoor meet, and she also is the women's basketball program's all-time leading scorer with 1,607 points. Skaines also coached NCAA qualifiers Roger Soler, a 1984 Olympian with his native Peru, and Melanie Hennis during his UTSA tenure.
Skaines spent more than 40 years in athletics as a student-athlete, coach and administrator.
A native of Houston, he graduated from Reagan High School in 1949 and after an outstanding track & field career at the University of Houston, he started his coaching career at Reagan in 1954 before moving to Houston Waltrip High School. He jumped to the college coaching ranks as track & field and cross country coach at UT Rio Grande Valley in 1968 after earning his master's degree from Sam Houston State a year earlier. He led the Broncs' programs for 13 years before becoming the first head track & field coach in UTSA history in 1981.
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