Local high school track teams are off and running this spring, with some records and personal bests already toppled.

The Waterloo boys took first place at Freeburg on March 31 and the girls brought home second place at the meet.

First place finishes for the boys went to the 4×100 relay, 4×200 relay and 4×400 relay. Also taking first place for the boys were Greysan Moehrs in the 110 hurdles, Noah Hays in the 400 meter run, Lance Mueller in the 1,600, Zach George in the shot put, Tristan Schneider in the discus and Ian Howard in the triple jump.

First place finishers for the girls were the 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams. Also taking first place for the girls were Hannah Finnerty in the 100 hurdles, Genna Bourgeois in the high jump, Jessica Whiteside in the shot put and Mikayla Duncan in the discus.

“So far, we have had a great season. Our biggest test so far this season will be coming up with the girls invite at Triad and for the boys at Belleville,” Waterloo track coach Larry Huffman said. “Many of the athletes mentioned above have a shot at medaling at these meets.”

On March 31, the Columbia boys and girls track teams competed in the Rocky Bridge Relays in Chester. The boys placed fifth as a team and girls tied for seventh.

On April 4, the Eagles competed in the Greenville Invitational. The boys placed 10th out of 12 teams and girls placed 11th out of 12 teams.

Columbia freshman Tyler Hoguet medaled in the 100, 200 and 400 meter runs, placing sixth in the 100 with a time of 12 seconds. He topped his own personal best in the 200 with a time of 24.81 seconds.

Also placing well for the Eagles at the Greenville meet were Nate Gion, who finished fourth in the discus with a top throw of 105 feet, seven inches, and Kristian Avise-Rouse, who placed in the top six in the 3,200 meter run with a time of 10:41.14.

For the girls, Grace O’Connor and Ali Mabus set season personal records in the 1,600 meter run with times of 7:04.33 and 7:57.63, respectively.

“Josh Thompson, who just missed out on state last year, has a strong chance of making it this year and we probably lost high jumper Ethan Snow for the year to injury,” Eagles track coach Taylor Nickerson said.

Dupo competed March 25 at Red Bud and March 31 at Freeburg, with nice showings in both meets.

Robbie Cunningham took first place in the 400 and the long jump at Red Bud and first place in the long jump at Freeburg.

Dakota Gill took first in the 800. Evan Schmidt took first in the 1,600 and set a personal best (4:56).

Antonio Cozart finished first in the 110 hurdles and also qualified for Indoor Prep Top Times in Bloomington in the hurdles.

For the Dupo girls, Kailey Heusohn took first in the 3,200 meter run, 300 meter hurdles and long jump. She also ran a school record in the 800 meters at Freeburg (2:40.00).

Leia Campbell took second in shot and discus and set a new school record with a throw of 96 feet, 10 inches.

The girls team of Selena Douglas, Shana Foster, Cierra Lauman and Kailey Heusohn also took first in the 4×400.

“We are hitting season and personal best times right now and those will only continue to improve. This is by far the best overall team we have had since I have been here,” Tigers track coach Kevin Acra said.