FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Chayton Bynes won two events and set a Chadron State outdoor program record as the Chadron State College track and field team had numerous bright spots at the Jack Christiansen Invitational Meet at Colorado State University in Fort Collins on Friday and Saturday.

Bynes won both the long jump and triple jump and set the school record in the latter event when he went 15.54 meters, or 51 feet even, on his third and final jump before inclement weather shut down the meet in the late afternoon.

It's the first time a CSC triple jumper has eclipsed 50 feet outdoors. The former record of 49-8 ½ was set by Isaac Grimes in 2018 when he won the event at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Meet.

Bynes, a sophomore from Chadron, was also first in the triple jump at last year's Jack Christiansen Meet, but Saturday's record-setting mark was four feet farther. In addition, Bynes won the long jump this year, going 7.28 meters, or 23-10 ½, just an inch shy of his season-best a year ago.

The Eagles also received standout performances from a pair of freshmen. Camila Salvucci won the women's triple jump Saturday by going 39 feet, 1 ½ inches, while is the longest triple jump outdoors for the CSC women's program since Emily Volkmer became an All-American in the event three consecutive years from 2005-07.   
 
Another freshman, Trace Hanchett, who drew lots of attention last week by becoming the first Chadron State javelin thrower to exceed 200 feet since 1989, did well again. He didn't quite hit his best of 203-5 ¼ from the previous Saturday, but he came within four inches of 200 feet while placing third in the event for the second consecutive meet. 

Since Chadron State was one of just three Division II teams at the meet (alongside Black Hills State and Regis) going up against four Division I programs (Colorado, Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Wyoming), some of the Eagles didn't place high but still showed massive improvement. 

That was particularly true in the men's hammer throw where for the second week in a row, seniors Parker Gonser and Christopher Jennings made big gains, each setting a career-best. Gonser placed sixth with a toss of 183-9 and Jennings was 10^th at 177-8 ¼.

After two meets this season, both Gonser and Jennings have added 23 feet to their top marks from the 2023 season. Gonser, who redshirted outdoors last spring, also had a career-best of 50-7 ½ while placing sixth in the shot put Saturday, and was eighth in the discus at 144-5 ½, some 15 feet farther than his top toss at the season-opener a week ago.

The meet ended before all the track events had taken place, but prior to the delay, Esosa Iyangunmwena ran the 100 in 10.75 seconds and freshman Christopher Comier ran the 400 in 48.62. Both races had 15 entries and both Chadron runners each placed fifth. 

Eagles finishing in the top 10 in their events were:
              Men's Events
              100—5, Esosa Iyengunmwena, 10.75.
              400—5, Christopher Cormier, 48.62; 10, Diego Perez, 50.71. 
              4x100 relay—4, Chadron State (Esosa Iyengunmwena, Nicquaine Henry, Ryan Clapper, Creighton Trembly), 41.52.
              Shot put—6, Parker Gonser, 50-7 ¼; 9, Quade Jordan, 46-8 ½
              Discus—8, Parker Gonser, 144-5 ¼. 
              Hammer throw—5, Parker Gonser, 183-9; 6, Christopher Jennings, 177-8 ¼.
              Javelin—3. Trace Hanchett. 199-8; 7, William Stemler, 152-11 ¼.
              Long jump—1, Chayton Bynes, 23-10 ½.
              Triple jump—1, Chayton Bynes, 51-0.
              Women's Events
              Shot put—8, Morgan Ekwall, 37-7.
              Discus—10, Ashlyn Tapio, 122-6 ½.  
              Hammer throw—9, Morgan Ekwall, 148-9; 10, Ashlyn Tapio, 134-3 ½. 
              Pole vault—6, Madison Clause, 10-4. 
              Triple jump—1, Camila Salvucci, 39-1 ¼.