INDIANAPOLIS – Chadron State College sophomore
Chayton Bynes earned All-American honors by placing fifth in the triple jump at the NCAA Division II National Indoor Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis Saturday afternoon.
Bynes's best mark of 15.32 meters (50-feet, 3 ¼ inches) came on his third jump and was just two inches shy of the winning mark. Bynes's eventual scoring jump came at a clutch moment for the CSC sophomore, who was in 11th place prior to the jump but advanced up to third at the time, allowing him three more attempts in the nine-jumper finals.
Both Josh Body of Angelo State of Texas and Tre Betts of Pittsburg State of Kansas went 50-5 ½ for the best marks. Body received the gold medal because his second-best jump was an inch longer than Betts's second-best. Yacouba Gnacko of the Academy of Art in California was the bronze medalist at 50-5 ¼, just a quarter inch shy of the two top marks.
The 50-3 ¼ jumps by Bynes and Isaiah Webster of Central Washington were the only others to go more than 50 feet. Webster's second longest jump was an inch farther than Bynes's No. 2 leap, so Webster placed fourth and Bynes fifth. Anas Maghani of West Texas A&M was sixth at 50 feet even.
Bynes, a Chadron native and Chadron High School graduate, is the second ever Chadron State male to earn triple jump All-American honors. The first was Isaac Grimes, who was the silver medalist at the 2019 National Indoor Championships by going 51-8 ½ and set the school record.
Bynes, who won the triple jump at Wayne State's Wildcat Classic in February by leaping 51-6 ½, has Chadron State's second longest triple jump in school history. He also qualified for the long jump at this year's National Indoor Championships and finished 13th at 23-1 ¼ on Friday. He had a best of 24-7 during the regular season.
The NCAA DII Indoor National Championships concluded on Saturday. Pittsburg State swept the team titles for both the men and women, winning the men's for the third year in a row. The rest of the men's top five featured Grand Valley State in second, RMAC schools Colorado School of Mines and Adams State in third and fourth, and NW Missouri State in fifth. On the women's side, Minnesota State was second, followed by Grand Valley State, Adams State and Azusa Pacific, with RMAC opponent CSU Pueblo in sixth.
Chadron State track and field will waste no time beginning the outdoor season, although their national qualifiers may not compete. The Eagles will compete at the Dan Caprioglio Invitational, hosted by CSU Pueblo, next weekend on March 21-22.
