BY: Con Marshall, Chadron State College

INDIANAPOLIS - Chadron State College sophomore Chayton Bynes became an All-American 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.

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 more than 50 feet.  Webster’s next 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 is the second 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 to 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.  He also qualified for the long jump at this year’s National Indoor Championships and finished 13th at 23-1 ¼. He had a best of 24-7 during the regular season.

He starred in both events at Chadron High School, winning them 17 of the 18 times he jumped as a senior in 2022 prior to the state meet. He was fourth in both in Class B at state.