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 10th in 10.89 seconds. Freshman Dylan Sup finished 11th 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 12th 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. 

Softball Takes Two From Adams State

CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State softball sealed a 20-win season with a pair of victories over Adams State to start the final series of 2025, winning 11-3 and 6-5 over the Grizzlies on an overcast day in Chadron. 

Seven different Eagles drove in runs as the game one as CSC wrapped it up via run rule in six innings, then freshman reliever Belle Akins slammed the door with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings to earn her fourth save of the season and close out a one-run win in the nightcap. 

The two victories for Chadron State (20-28, 16-26 RMAC) clinch the second season winning 20 games or more since the Eagles' school-record 32-win season in 2017. The Eagles will have two more opportunities against Adams State (5-49, 3-39 RMAC) on Saturday to add to their win total before the 2025 season closes. 

As part of senior weekend, interim head coach Rob Stack ensured that all eight of his seniors were in the starting lineup for each game, leading to some new positions throughout the day. 

Kendall Petty started her second and third games of the season in right field, and Jazlyn Arvizo made her center field debut in game one, but the highlight was senior pitcher Tori Haug starting in left field and batting ninth in game two for the first non-circle action of her career. In the first at-bats of her career, Haug finished with a walk, sacrifice fly and a single to carry a career batting average of 1.000 into Saturday night. 

The Eagles wasted no time getting on the board in game one of the doubleheader. After a leadoff flyout, the next five batters reached, with an RBI single by Ashland Baca and a bases-loaded walk by Angelina Quezada putting the Eagles up 2-0. With two outs, the Eagles added more runs on a wild pitch plus an Elizabeth Thorngren single to lead 4-0 after one inning of play. 

Chadron State accumulated baserunners to add on. Kendall Petty drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-0 before an Arvizo sacrifice fly scored another in the third. The big hits finally started to come in the fifth to break it open, as J'lyssa Martinez rocketed a two-run double into the right-center field gap before a deep fly ball from Lauren Zimmmerman was dropped, leading to another run. 

Ashland Baca smacked a double to left-center to put Zimmerman on third base before Brogan Allen brought home CSC's 10th run with an RBI groundout. 

With Haug on the bump (and not yet in the lineup), the senior avoided big innings to earn her ninth win of the season. Haug pitched all six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. Haug walked five but struck out eight to set a season high and tie a career high (set three times previously in 2023). 

Game two had some nervy moments despite another hot start by the Eagles. Sophia Brennan had a two-run single in the first, Zimmerman added an RBI base knock in the third and the Eagles received more RBI from Haug on a sacrifice fly and a single up the middle by Martinez to take a 5-2 lead after three innings. 

But the Grizzlies were resilient. Adams State scored twice and placed runners on second and third in the fifth, leading CSC to bring out Belle Akins out of the bullpen with the go-ahead run in scoring position. Akins emphatically struck out ASU's Ali Davis to end the threat, then retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the sixth. 

The Eagles got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Haug singled, and pinch-runner Katelynn Czerpak tried to score on a single by Martinez. The Grizzlies threw out Czerpak at the plate, but Martinez advanced all the way to third on the throw home, enabling her to score on a sac fly by Angelina Quezada on the next batter. 

That loomed large as ASU struck for a solo home run with two outs in the seventh to make it a one-run game once again. But Akins coaxed a comebacker to the mound for the final out, allowing CSC to celebrate.