GOLDEN, Colo. – Chadron State College sophomore Chayton Bynes won the long jump Friday at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships to lead three placers for the Eagles on Day 1 of the outdoor conference championships taking place at Colorado School of Mines in Golden. 

Bynes went 7.37 meters, or 24 feet, 2 inches, in the long jump, winning the event by two inches over Joseph Billington of MSU-Denver. The mark is the sophomore's all-time outdoor best and just five inches off his all-time indoor best set earlier this year, when he was an indoor national qualifier.

It is also a long-awaited first individual RMAC title in the career of Bynes, who has accumulated several awards including 2023-24 Co-Freshman of the Year and 2024-25 Co-Field Athlete of the Year but hadn't won the conference meet and didn't compete in the indoor version earlier this year.

Bynes will be seeking his second gold medal in the triple jump on Saturday. The Chadron High graduate went to the conference meet with RMAC's longest triple jump this season, 15.54 meters, or 51 feet. That mark also ranks sixth in NCAA Division II entering this weekend when many DII conference meets are being held across the nation.

Two Chadron State throwers also earned points Friday. Senior Parker Gonser of Windsor, Colorado placed fourth in the hammer throw and freshman Trace Hanchett of Phillipsburg, Kansas finished fifth in the javelin.

Gonser's mark of 57.17 meters, or 187-7 ½; is his career-best by two feet. Hanchett's top throw of 54.94 meters (180-3 ¼) was considerably shy of his career-best 65.60 meters (215-3) at the same location two weeks ago when he set both the Chadron State and the Stermole Track and Field complex records. The weather Friday, including chilly temperatures and damp conditions, saw nearly all of the conference's top throwers, including Hanchett, perform well under season-best marks. 

Two more Chadron State men guaranteed podium places by qualifying for the finals in track events which ran preliminary rounds Friday. Nicquaine Henry and Christopher Cormier were fourth among the 24 contestants in their respective races.

Henry, a senior from Kingston, Jamaica, ran the 400 hurdles in 53.15 seconds, and Cormier, a freshman from Sparks, Nevada, ran the 400 dash in 47.78. Both marks are each athlete's season-bests.  

Ryan Clapper barely missed qualifying for the finals of the 100 meters, placing 10^th in 10.89 seconds. Freshman Dylan Sup finished 11^th among the 24 participants in the 400 meters in 49.35 seconds. 

In the women's competition Friday, CSC freshman Sydney Alles of West Valley, Utah, finished 12^th in the hammer throw with a heave of 148-9 ¼, some 14 ½ feet farther than her previous best of 134-3. All but one of those who placed above her were juniors or seniors. 

Thanks to Bynes's 10 points for winning an event plus five placing points from Gonser and four from Hanchett, the Chadron State men's team has 19 points after one day, tied for fourth with CSU Pueblo and trailing Colorado School of Mines (63), UCCS (39) and Colorado Mesa (24). The CSC women have yet to score a point, but only nine of the conference's 15 competing programs did so on day one. 

The conference competition resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday and will continue until late afternoon on Sunday.