The Chaska Hawks Track and Field teams sent seven athletes to the Minnesota State Class AAA Track and Field Meet. By the time the final marks were recorded, two of them had walked off the track as state record holders, and the Class of 2026 had written one of the most decorated chapters in program history.

Some senior classes leave behind a season. This one left behind the record books.

Across two days of competition at the State Class AAA Meet, the Hawks watched their seniors deliver the kind of performances that programs wait decades to see. A state record fell. A State Meet record was matched. School records were broken, then broken again on the very next throw. By the end, Chaska had collected a stack of all-state honors and a senior class that will be talked about for a long time.

Ross runs into the record books

Senior Noella Ross had spent her entire career chasing the state record in the 800 meters. In the prelims, she came agonizingly close, missing it by a single hundredth of a second.

Then came the final — the last high school race she would ever run.

The University of Iowa commit left no doubt. Ross broke the previous state record of 2:06.50 with a blistering run of 2:06.17, crossing the line more than three seconds clear of the field. A career spent rewriting Chaska’s all-time lists ended with her name atop the entire state of Minnesota.

Schmidt defends his crown

Senior Josh Schmidt arrived at state as the defending Class AAA champion in the pole vault, and he left exactly the way he came in: on top.

Schmidt cleared 16 feet, 6 inches to defend his title, equaling his championship vault from 2025 and tying his own State Meet record in the process.

It was a fitting close to a senior season that had already bordered on the unbelievable. Earlier in the year, Schmidt broke his own all-time Minnesota state record with a vault of 17 feet, 6 inches.

The numbers tell the rest of the story. Schmidt now owns the five best pole vaults in Minnesota history. All of them. There is simply no one in the state who has done what he has done.

Schmidt will take his talents to North Dakota State University next year, where he will compete for the Bison track and field team.

Robinson saves his best for last

Senior Nick Robinson very nearly did not get the chance. He squeaked into the discus finals as the last qualifier, finishing ninth in the prelims and earning himself three extra throws.

He made every one of them count.

On his first finals throw, Robinson broke the Chaska school record with a heave of 165 feet, 8 inches. Then, on the final throw of his high school career, he shattered his own brand-new record with a throw of 170 feet, 6 inches. The mark vaulted him all the way up to fifth place overall and earned him all-state honors in the most dramatic way possible.

Robinson will throw shot put and discus at DII South Dakota Mines next year, where he will also play football.

Harris, Greathouse add to all-state haul

Senior Fred Harris joined the all-state ranks in the long jump, breaking his personal best with a leap of 22 feet, 3/4 inches to place ninth overall. Harris will continue his track and field career at Bethel University.

Sophomore Justin Greathouse brought home all-state honors of his own, finishing seventh in a tough 400-meter field with a time of 48.96 seconds. Greathouse had set the stage with an exceptional prelim run of 48.24 — a personal best — and as just a sophomore, his ceiling is a long way off.

Omozegiele doubles up; Schmitz caps a stellar career

On the girls side, sophomore Ofure Omozegiele added another all-state honor to Chaska’s tally, finishing eighth in the discus with a personal-best throw of 117 feet, 3 inches. Omozegiele was the only Hawk to compete in two events at state, also taking part in the shot put, where she placed 17th.

Senior Ayla Schmitz also qualified for her third straight State Meet in the high jump, capping a career that leaves her as the second-best high jumper in the history of the Chaska girls program.

A class for the ages

The Class of 2026 certainly left its mark on the long history of the Chaska track and field programs.

Schmidt and Ross leave Chaska High School as state record holders, joining Jon Markuson, a 1994 Chaska graduate who tied the state high jump record in 1993 with a leap of 7 feet, 1 inch. 

Seasons, and graduating classes, come and go. State records like these do not.  The 2026 season was definitely one for the Chaska history books.