CHADRON, Neb. – After a highly successful regional meet last weekend in Spearfish, Chadron State outdoor track and field continues its march toward the RMAC Outdoor Championships in two weeks when they compete at the Kit Mayer Classic in Golden, Colorado this Friday and Saturday. 

This weekend's meet, hosted by Colorado School of Mines, will take place on the same track as the upcoming conference meet on April 25-27, which will also be in Golden, giving Chadron State and other competing athletes a chance to get acclimated to the track before the RMAC meet. 

The meet begins Friday, with field events including the javelin, hammer, pole vault and triple jump from 10 a.m. through 2 p.m. The men's and women's 10K will take place Friday evening. 

On Saturday, most of the track events will be contested, starting at noon and running through 7:30 with the start of the men's and women's 5K. The final field events, including the discus, shot put, high jump and long jump, will run from 10 a.m. through 3 p.m. Saturday. 

Live streams of certain field and running events will be available on the RMAC Network. Live results will also be available online. 

Looking Back
Chadron State won 19 events at the Scott Walkinshaw Open and Multi, finishing first in team scores in both genders while competing against regional rivals South Dakota Mines and meet host Black Hills State.

RECAP: Scott Walkinshaw Meet

The Chadron State men won 13 events, and the men and women combined for 14 running event wins, five field events and two relays.  

Double Dipping
Three separate Eagles tallied two event wins during last Saturday's meet, while two other athletes were a part of multiple victorious relay teams.
 
Ryan Clapper swept the 100 and 200 meter dashes, running the former in 10.69 seconds and the latter in 21.44 seconds. With Clapper's 200 time in the finals and a 10.57 in the 100 prelims, the sophomore achieved the fastest times by a Chadron State athlete in both events this season. Clapper's 100 time ranks sixth in the RMAC for the outdoor 2024-25 season while his 200 time ranks seventh. 

Chayton Bynes swept the long jump and triple jump, hitting 15.43 meters (50-7.5) in the triple jump and 7.06 meters (23-2) in the long jump. Bynes fell short of his season bests from the Jack Christensen Invite, which saw him tally the second-farthest long jump in the RMAC at 7.28 meters (23-10.75) and the farthest triple jump in the league at 15.54 meters (51-0). 

Bynes's triple jump from the Jack Christiansen Invite on March 29 was also both an NCAA provisional qualifier and the Chadron State school record, which had previously stood since 2019. 

Freshman Camila Salvucci bridged both track and field events with her double, when she won the women's triple jump as well as the 200 meters. Salvucci leapt 11.80 meters (38-8.75), then raced a season-best 26.90 seconds in the 200. 

Like Bynes, Salvucci currently holds the RMAC's longest triple jump from her winning mark at the Jack Christiansen Invite, which was 11.92 meters (39-1.25). 

Esosa Iyengunmwena and Christopher Cormier were each victorious in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays for Chadron State. Clapper earned a third win on the day as part of the 4x100 team alongside Iyengunmwena, Cormier and Creighton Trembly, while Nicquaine Henry and Jacob Jefferson accompanied them on the 4x400. 

Top 10s
After Salvucci's league-leading triple jump, two other women's athletes climbed into the top 10 in the RMAC with marks from the Scott Walkinshaw meet. 

Sophomore Eva Nitschke ran the 400 hurdles in 1:04.40 to move into eighth on the RMAC Performance List. At the meet, Nitschke finished second behind BHSU's Carlie DeBoer, who is seventh in the RMAC. 

Madison Clause vaulted into the top 10 by clearing 3.2 meters (10-6) in the women's pole vault, good for 10^th on the conference performance list. Clause came fourth at the Scott Walkinshaw meet. 

Aside from Clapper and Bynes's top 10s, the Chadron State men are racking up performance list totals as well. Creighton Trembly has run the second-fastest 110 hurdle time in the RMAC, trailing multiple-time RMAC and NCAA medalist Everett Delate of Colorado School of Mines in that event. Trembly ran a season-best 14.51 seconds at the Walkinshaw meet. 

Likewise, Nicquaine Henry won the 400 hurdles last weekend in Spearfish, doing so in a time of 54.48 that ranks sixth in the conference. The Chadron State relays are also strong, with the school's 4x100 ranking fourth in the RMAC at the moment (41.26 seconds) and the 4x400 ranking fifth (3:19.37). 

Top 10 marks from earlier meets include junior Esosa Iyengunmwena, who is eighth in the 100 meters (10.65 seconds), while freshman Christopher Cormier is eighth in the 400 (48.73). Parker Gonser ranks seventh in both the shot put and hammer throw while freshman Trace Hanchett is third in the javelin. 

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.