INDIANAPOLIS – Triple jumper Chayton Bynes will represent Chadron State at the 2026 NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships after the NCAA released the official qualifiers on Tuesday. The triple jump competition will take place on Saturday, May 23 from Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kansas.

Bynes, a redshirt junior and Chadron native, will enter the competition with the No. 4 mark in Division II this season – 15.73 meters, or 51 feet, 7.25 inches, from the Con Marshall Early Bird Meet hosted by Chadron State on March 20. That jump also broke Bynes's own outdoor triple jump school record and set the facility record for the Chadron State track.

Bynes will be competing at his second consecutive outdoor championships and has also competed at the past two indoor national championships, winning All-American honors at all three. At last year's outdoor nationals meet, Bynes jumped 15.60 meters (51-2.25) and finished 10th, good for Second Team All-American honors and just 0.05 meters away from the final. The Chadron High School grad also boasts a fifth-place finish in 2025 and a bronze medal in 2026 from the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The NCAA qualifies 22 student-athletes in each individual event, 16 decathlon/heptathlon athletes and 16 relay teams to the outdoor championships. Bynes, the 2025-26 RMAC indoor triple jump champion, is one of two RMAC competitors in the 22-jumper field alongside UCCS's KJ McInnis, who won the outdoor RMAC championship as Bynes did not compete. 

The triple jump competition is scheduled to begin at 1:15 MT (2:15 local/CT) on Saturday. Jumpers will be divided into two flights to compete, with official entry lists and heat sheets available early next week.