Waterloo High School students interested in automotives have seen strong performances in competitions like in many other years, with one group of young women cutting it close as they qualify for nationals.

Hot Rodders of Tomorrow is a national competition which tests students’ mechanic skills as they break down and reassemble an engine on a timer.

The organization began in the late 2000s and has since grown across the country, with numerous schools from California, Texas, Georgia and other states training teams for competitions that run through the first half of the year, all culminating in national championships which take place at the end of the year.

Waterloo’s participation in the Southern Illinois competition began in 2022, with a team qualifying for nationals then and in 2023.

Overseen by WHS auto shop teacher Tony Biffar, last year’s qualifying team also managed to make the time requirement for their engine reconstruction this year.

WHS sophomore Evan Chaffin spoke about his experience on the team, noting he took a great interest while he was in one of Biffar’s classes his very first semester and was eager to join in the spring.

As he recalled, he and the rest of the younger team last year were able to qualify for nationals with a decent team after the older team qualified, and they had a solid run at the larger competition.

“It’s really fun,” Chaffin said. “Personally, I really like working on cars and stuff, but there’s a lot of teamwork and communication that you have to have, so I think it’s a really good thing not just because you’re building engines and stuff but because of the communication experience you get out of it.”

While Chaffin and the rest of the current older team were rather expected to qualify given their previous performances, some surprise came from the Southern Illinois competition earlier this month when the younger team just managed to reach a qualifying time.

One member of this all-female team is Ashton Matthews, who recounted a similar story to Chaffin, having taken an interest in the Hot Rodders competition during her first semester in one of Biffar’s auto classes.

From there, she reached out to some of her friends with a similar passion for automotive work.

“We just kind of went around and talked to people to see if they were interested in being on an engine team, and that’s how we formed our team,” Matthews said.

Biffar had high praise for this young team – he referred to the older and younger teams as the varsity and junior varsity teams, respectively, though they compete in the same tournaments – as he noted their dedication to training together through the past semester.

“Those girls put so much time into this,” Biffar said. “They were there at six in the morning every Wednesday, they were staying on Monday nights. They were super committed, and they pulled it off.”

They did so by a very narrow margin as well. As he and Matthews recalled, the team’s first potential qualifying round went pretty rough, but they were able to rally for their second chance – Matthews credited Biffar for his advice and encouragement – and qualify with a time just a few seconds under the 33 minute time limit.

“I think the girls just like the drama,” Biffar said. “They could have done it quicker, but they wanted that drama at the end.”

Like Biffar, Ashton’s mother Jamie Matthews had plenty to say about how impressed she was with her daughter and the rest of the team.

Jamie also noted the several months of practicing multiple times each week, as well as their participation at a recent Waterloo Optimist Meat Shoot to help them get used to doing their work while a crowd watches on.

She further spoke about the general benefits of participation on the team, emphasizing the teamwork experience in particular.

“Just from a parent standpoint, it is such an awesome and unique program,” Jamie said. “She has learned a lot, one, about just the process of taking an engine apart and putting it back together but, more importantly, working with four other girls… They are all friends on top of being able to work together, and even when they get frustrated with each other they’ve learned to still keep their cool, and it’s just been really cool to watch.”

Ashton spoke about her overall experience on the JV engine team, saying that her big interest in mechanic work began with her time around equipment on the family farm. Her involvement in FFA also lead her to pursue this additional extracurricular.

She voiced her overall excitement at qualifying for nationals later this year, further noting how it feels to be part of a big first for the school.

“I’m really proud to be a part of this,” Ashton said. “Our engine team is the first all-girls engine team for Waterloo High School. Mr. Biffar was really excited for us to get into qualifying. I’m personally just really happy and really proud of myself and our team.”

Several of Ashton’s teammates also shared their thoughts on the team.

Ainsely Stolarik – also an FFA member – said she wanted to get involved as her sister was also part of the program.

She spoke positively about her time with her teammates, noting how, as the only junior, she hopes to qualify and join them at nationals again next year as well.

“We really bonded over all of our loves for being there for practices and getting to learn more about the engine when we just started doing this,” Stolarik said. “We’ve bonded and grown our friendships and made some best friends probably for life over this engine competition and working together, trying to beat our own times.”

Alyssa Marquardt also had good things to say about her experience on the team, bringing up how well they work together and how they move from station to station around the engine when their attention is needed away from their usual spots.

“We just all work together so well,” Marquardt said. “If we didn’t work well, then we would talk about it. My team is just so good at communicating, and Mr. Biffar is a really big part of it.”

Marquardt said her interest in mechanic work also stemmed from her time helping her grandpa farm and doing hands-on work with him.

Biffar offered great praise for both of his engine teams this year.

“I’ve had some really good years of teaching, and this is just another one, and it’s mainly because these kids that come out at the end of the year do the extra,” Biffar said. “It’s been like that every year, but these are the kids that make you, when you have those bad days in the classroom, you’re dealing with kids that really don’t wanna be there and you get to stay after school or work with these kids before school that just give everything they got, it keeps you going as an everyday teacher, every one of them from both teams.”

Looking to the future, each member of the team expressed their hopes for the big competition late this year, though their interest in automotive work extends well beyond Hot Rodders of Tomorrow as each of them expressed some interest in mechanics or another trade.

“I plan to go into a trade school so I can do more in automotive and stuff like that,” Ashton said. “This year I got more interested in that stuff because the high school has more opportunities to get yourself into all your interests.”