The event was titled the 2022 Jersey Winter Thaw this past Saturday at Principia College in Elsah.

The Waterloo High School track team heated up the lanes at the season opening indoor meet, which featured about 30 teams.

The Bulldogs brought home four first place finishes, including some school records.

“We had a great day,” WHS track coach Larry Huffman said.

In the women’s 4×400 meter relay, the team of Molly Grohmann, Kristin Smith, Taylor Thorsten and Carleigh McFarlane won with a time of 4:20.32, which was nearly six seconds faster than second place Mascoutah and is the fastest indoor time in school history. 

The same WHS foursome also competed in the women’s 4×200 meter relay, placing second behind Belleville East with a finish time of 1:54.82.

Grohmann continued her excellent opening meet of the season by winning the women’s high jump with a 5-foot-6 showing. That tied her own school record in the event. 

In the women’s 3,200 meter run, Danielle Mudd placed first for the Bulldogs with a time of 12:05.63, winning “with a close sprint to the finish,” Huffman said.

In the women’s 1,600 meter run, Cameron Crump placed second for the Bulldogs with a time of 5:48.85.

For the WHS boys, junior Joe Schwartz added another career highlight to his collection. 

He won the men’s 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:27.17, breaking his older brother Jake’s previous indoor school record in that event. 

The WHS boys and girls track squads will next compete in a meet at Columbia this coming Monday.