By: Con Marshall
CSC Sports Information
The Chadron State College track and field team had another good day Saturday while competing at the Nebraska-Kearney Twilight Meet, which gave dozens of college athletes a final chance to improve their marks and qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championships that will take place May 22-24 at Pueblo, Colorado.
CSC freshman Trace Hanchett of Phillipsburg, Kansas, took advantage of the opportunity.
Already the Eagles’ record-holder in the javelin, Hanchett sailed the spear 65.60 meters, or 219 feet, 7 inches, to solidify his qualification. His previous best mark of 215 feet, 3 inches put him 20th on the national list, but the 4 feet, 4 inches improvement Saturday moved him up to 13th place.
The 22 athletes with the best marks in each individual event are the national qualifiers. The qualifiers will be officially declared early this coming week.
Hanchett will be among Chadron State’s three national qualifiers. The others are sophomore Chayton Bynes in the triple jump and senior Nicquaine Henry of Kingston, Jamaica, in the 400-meter hurdles.
All three broke school records this season while securing their national credentials.
Bynes has been high on the national chart ever since he became CSC’s first 50-foot triple jumper outdoors when went 15.54 meters, or 51 feet even, during a meet at Fort Collins in late March.
The former record of 49-8 ½ was set by Isaac Grimes in 2018;
As of Saturday night, Bynes was eighth on the DII chart, but CSC Coach Jake Gruver said he had learned that a couple of triple jumpers in California exceeded 51 feet this weekend and the Eagles’ standout likely will be 10th or 11th after the updating takes place.
Henry earned his national meet qualification Friday during the Concordia Last Chance Meet in Seward, where he won the 400 hurdles in 51.56 seconds. At last report he was 17th nationally. His time Friday broke the CSC record of 52.39 seconds that was set by Gavin Archibald in 2014.