The 2026 Agate boys and girls track & field teams had different makeups going into the start of the season. The Agate girls’ track & field team was a young group, with almost ¾ of the team being in 9th or 10th grade, and just 3 seniors and 4 juniors on the roster. The boys’ team was larger and a little older, with 10 seniors, 5 juniors, 12 sophomores, and 14 freshmen on their roster.
Captains for this season included Brooklyn Nelson, Delaney Nelson, Amelia Saamanen, Olivia Hagglund, and Brynn von Goertz for the girls’ team. The captains of the boys’ team were Tommy DeChantal, Will Fransen, Jace Gomez, Carter Nelson, Erik Gischia, and Jonathan Kinsey. Those captains would help lead a team with 45 freshmen and sophomores on it.
An inspiring moment came in early April, when senior captain Delaney Nelson returned to the track for her first race in a little over a year after suffering a devastating knee injury that same week in 2025. Her hard work and determination in her rehabilitation helped her return to sprinting, slowly regaining some of her old form. It was just supposed to be a season of getting back into the swing of things, but Delaney was able to enjoy a lot of success again on the track, placing in every meet she ran in, even winning races in some big track meets.
Both teams finished 3rd in the team standings at the Polar League Conference Championship, held at Moose Lake on May 13th. All-Conference performances (the top 2 individuals and the top relay receive All-Conference honors) for the Agates were: Delaney Nelson in the 100m Dash (1st place) and 200m Dash (1st place); Brynn von Goertz in the Discus (2nd place); Olivia Hagglund in the Triple Jump (1st place), Long Jump (1st place), and High Jump (2nd place); Joshua Maxwell in the 200m Dash (2nd place); Tommy DeChantal in the 110m High Hurdles (2nd place) and 300m Intermediate Hurdles (1st place); Will Fransen in the 300m Intermediate Hurdles (2nd place).; Jonathan Kinsey in the Discus (2nd place); Boys 4x200m Relay (Jace Gomez, Cameron Poe-Johnson, Joshua Maxwell, Carter Nelson) = 1st place; and the Boys 4x400m Relay (Tommy DeChantal, Jace Gomez, Joshua Maxwell, Carter Nelson) = 1st place.
The following week at the Sub-Section Meet in Esko, the boys’ team would finish in 2nd place overall, and the girls were 5th, out of 13 teams. The girls had 8 qualifiers in individual events and qualified 1 relay team for the Section Meet. The boys qualified 13 individual entries and 2 relay teams for the Section Meet.
At the Section 7A Championship, held at UMD on May 27th, the Agates would enjoy a successful day. The Agate girls would finish in 9th place in the team standings, out of 25 total teams, while the boys’ team would be crowned Section Champions, topping 2nd-place Esko by 9 ½ points. Placing in the top 2, and advancing to the State Meet, were: Olivia Hagglund in the Long Jump and Triple Jump; Jonathan Kinsey in the Discus; Joshua Maxwell in the 200m Dash; Tommy DeChantal in the 110m High Hurdles and the 300m Intermediate Hurdles; the boys 4x200m relay; and the boys 4x400m Relay. Other Agates placing in the Section Meet were: Delaney Nelson in the 100m Dash (4th place); the 4x100m Relay team of Brooklyn Nelson, Arianna DeYoung, Olivia Hagglund, and Delaney Nelson (6th place); Olivia Hagglund in the High Jump (5th place tie); Carter Nelson in the 100m Dash (5th place); Cameron Poe-Johnson in the 200m Dash (6th place); Alejandro Rivera in the 400m Dash (7th place); Will Fransen in the 300m Intermediate Hurdles (3rd place); Jonathan Kinsey in the Shot Put (3rd place); Ryan Stone in the Shot Put (7th place); and Jace Gomez in the High Jump (5th place) and the Triple Jump (5th place).
Tommy DeChantal missed the school record in the 110m High Hurdles at the State Meet by just one hundredth of a second, running 14.85 seconds in the State finals, just .01 behind the school record of 14.84 seconds. His time was good for 4th place at State, earning AllState honors. Tommy would also place 9th in the 300m Intermediate Hurdles with a time of 40.81 seconds, again earning All-State honors. Jonathan Kinsey would throw the discus 144’ 11” in his first trip to the State Meet, a new personal-record throw, and good for 14th place, putting him at #4 on the school’s all-time list. Olivia Hagglund would finish in 19th place in the Triple Jump, and 14th place in the Long Jump with a new personal-record jump of 16’ 5.25”. Senior Joshua Maxwell ran a time of 23.05 seconds in the 200m Dash, which put him in 15th place overall. The Agate boys 4x200m Relay team of Will Fransen, Cameron Poe-Johnson, Joshua Maxwell, and Carter Nelson finished in 14th place with a time of 1:32.26. And the boys 4x400m Relay team of Tommy DeChantal, Will Fransen, Joshua Maxwell, and Carter Nelson finished in 14th place overall with a time of 3:31.42.
New varsity school records were set in several events during the season. Sophomore Olivia Hagglund broke the school record in the girls’ Triple Jump, with her jump of 35’ 3” at the Polar League Conference Championship Meet, breaking the previous record by 1 inch. Senior hurdler Tommy DeChantal broke his own school record in the indoor 60m High Hurdles back in March, with a time of 8.82 seconds. Tommy also broke the school record in the 300m Intermediate Hurdles with his time of 40.07 seconds at the Polar League Conference Championship Meet, breaking the old school record of 40.2 seconds. Tommy’s time in the 300m Hurdles also broke the Polar League Conference record, which had been 41.0 seconds. The boys’ 4x200m Relay team of Jace Gomez, Cameron Poe-Johnson, Joshua Maxwell, and Carter Nelson broke the school record at the Sub-Section Meet with their time of 1:32.05; the previous record was set last year at 1:32.07. And the boys 4x400m Relay team of Tommy DeChantal, Jace Gomez, Joshua Maxwell, and Carter Nelson broke the school record with their time of 3:28.66 at the Sub-Section Meet.
Delaney Nelson and Tommy DeChantal were voted team MVPs. Natalie Falk, Claire Swartout, and Bryce Maxwell were voted “Rookie of the Year” award winners. The “Most Improved” award went to Brynn von Goertz, Silas Fournier, and Aiden Schlangen. And Delaney Nelson and Tommy DeChantal were voted the winners of the “Agate Heart Award.” Awards were presented at the team banquet on Monday, June 1st.
We’d like to thank our seniors for all they’ve done for the program over the years: Kelsy Carlson, Brooklyn Nelson, Delaney Nelson, Tommy DeChantal, Will Fransen, Jace Gomez, Kyle Graden, Dreagon Jordon, Alex Kaczrowski, Zander Lucas, Joshua Maxwell, Carter Nelson, and Alejandro Rivera. You will all be missed. Each senior was presented with a “Senior Award” at the team banquet as well.
Some graduating seniors will continue their track & field careers next year at the collegiate level. Brooklyn Nelson will join the track team at Hamline University next year, while her sister, Delaney Nelson, will be joining the track team at UMD. And Tommy DeChantal will continue his track career at UW-Stout. They will join Lamar Gordon (Northern Michigan University), Jenna Marxhausen (St. Cloud State), Grace Swanson (University of St. Thomas), Trinity Giddings (University of Minnesota), and Chase Pierce (UW-Superior) as Two Harbors graduates competing collegiately. Overall, it was a great season for the track & field program. It was a very enjoyable group to coach. As coaches, we look for improvement throughout the season, and we definitely saw that this year. There were a lot of kids setting multiple personal bests in their events during the season.
