CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State track and field will have two competitors in a total of three events at the upcoming NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships this weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Eagles have legitimate national title and All-American aspirations in the form of Chadron's own Chayton Bynes, a sophomore who will enter the meet as the top seed in the men's triple jump and tied for eighth in the long jump. 

Bynes will be joined in Indy by O'Neill, Nebraska senior Christopher Jennings, who will compete in the weight throw after he was Chadron State's only podium finisher at the RMAC Championships two weeks ago. 

Coverage Information
The meet will run for three days beginning this Thursday, but no Eagles will compete until Friday morning. 

Live video streams of the meet will be broadcast on the web at NCAA.com. Live results are also available with up-to-date team and individual scores. 

VIDEO (Fri.) | VIDEO (Sat.) | LIVE STATS

Bynes will start off his weekend by competing in the long jump at 10 a.m. MT Friday morning (noon local time). Jennings will compete in the weight throw at 1:30 p.m. Friday (3:30 local). 

Bynes will return to the track on Saturday for the triple jump. That event also begins at 10 a.m. MT (noon local). 

Event Previews
Christopher Jennings enters the national championships with a season and career-best mark of 19.27 meters (63 feet, 2.75 inches), which he achieved at the SDSU Indoor Classic on February 14-15. 

Jennings got on the podium at the RMAC Championships, placing third with a throw of 18.93m (62-1.25), which was his second-farthest throw of the season. Colorado School of Mines's Holden Murphy and UCCS's Luke Hard, who joined Jennings on the podium, also join him on the nationals entry list.

Jennings will likely need a career day to earn All-American honors. His qualifying throw of 19.27 has him seeded 18^th among participants this weekend in Indianapolis. Pre-nationals leader Ben Haas of Hillsdale University has thrown 22.45 meters (73-8). 

Chayton Bynes did not compete at the RMAC Championships, but his marks throughout the indoor season have made him one of Division II's premier jumpers ahead of the national meet. 

The sophomore set his triple-jump mark of 15.71 meters (51 feet, 6.5 inches) at the Wayne State Wildcat Open on February 8. While that mark is the second-longest of the year in Division II, the jumper with the longest mark is not entered at the national meet, making Bynes the top overall seed in the event. 

There will still be plenty of competition. The No. 2 seed in the latest lineup is Tre Betts of Pittsburg State, whose season-best is two inches shorter than Bynes in 2025, but previously jumped 15.99 meters (52-5.5) while winning the national championship in the event last year. 

Academy of Art's Yacouba Gnacko (15.93m) also has a career-best of farther than Bynes, albeit not this season. In addition to Bynes, Betts and Gnacko, five more qualifiers have gone at least 50 feet this year.

In the long jump, Bynes's mark of 7.49 meters (24-7) is tied for ninth in Division II this season and is tied for eighth on the entry list. The event leader entering nationals is Joseph Oreva of West Texas A&M at 25-3.5 while Javon Bowen of Holy Family University of Philadelphia is second at 25-2.75, followed by recent RMAC winne Richard Safuh of UCCS at 24-10.5.

Nationals History
Bynes and Jennings will be seeking to add to Chadron State's 78 Indoor Track and Field All-Americans and six indoor national champions. 

Chadron State Indoor Track and Field National Champions

• Tracy Heiman, high jump, 1994
• Brad Gamble, heptathlon, 2011
• Stachia Reuwsaat, long jump, 2016
• Stachia Reuwsaat, long jump, 2017
• Mel Herl, shot put, 2017
• Isaac Grimes, long jump, 2019

If Chayton Bynes is able to win All-America honors in two events in the same year, he would join an exclusive club of nine CSC indoor athletes to be an All-American in two events simultaneously, including Damarcus Simspon, who did it twice in 2015 and 2016.
Chadron State Indoor Multi-Event All-Americans (same year)

• Jenifer Durbin Proud (60 yards and long jump, 1988)
• Caryn Martin (long jump and high jump, 1993)
• Doug Lytle (shot put and weight throw, 1998)
• Jacqueline Wells (shot put and weight throw, 2006)
• Damarcus Simpson (long jump and 60 meters, 2015)
• Damarcus Simpson (long jump and 60 meters, 2016)
• Stachia Reuwsaat (long jump and 60 meters, 2017)
• Mel Herl (shot put, weight throw, 2017)
• Isaac Grimes (long jump and triple jump, 2019)
• Kyla Sawvell (shot put and weight throw, 2023)

Chadron State's record for most All-America nods in a single indoor national meet is six, set in 2016. The Eagles took five indoor All-America honors in 2006, 2011 and 2017.

The Eagles will be looking to have Bynes and/or Jennings start a new streak of All-Americans for the program. Chadron State had at least one indoor All-American for 10 straight years from 2014-2023 (including provisional All-Americans recognized in 2020 despite COVID-19 canceling that year's meet), but CSC did not have an All-American last year.

Coach's Corner
Jake Gruver, a former CSC All-American, returned to take over the Chadron State Track and Field program in September 2023. In the fall of 2024, Gruver also began overseeing Chadron State's cross-country program. 

Gruver was previously a CSC assistant coach in 2012 before working outside athletics. As an athlete for the Eagles, Gruver was a seven-time RMAC Champion and a one time All-American. His lone All-American accolade happened in 2011 when he was a member of the schools 4x100 relay team that placed sixth.

In Gruver's first season as cross country coach, the CSC women's team recorded its highest placing at the RMAC Championships since 2017. The Eagles also excelled in the classroom, with Kyle Shirley earning the RMAC Summit Award (the conference's highest individual academic honor) and Chadron State placing a program-record three student-athletes on the RMAC All-Academic Team.