A few Mexico Hounds will be on the big stage later this month.

Three girls of the Mexico Optimist Hounds Running Club qualified for the AAU Junior Olympics Games to be held in Houston, Texas, from July 26 to August 2. Lydia Bowen, Anna Poore and Amira Beck advanced out of the AAU Region 16 meet at Parkview High School in Springfield after finishing in the top five of their respective events.

Bowen and Poore both qualified in the 10-year-old 1500-meter racewalk after placing third and fourth, respectively, with times of 14:24.51 and 14:52.78. Beck finished fourth in the 10-year-old 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 2:58.92. Bowen also finished seventh in the 10-year-old girl 1500 meters. 

The Mexico Hounds had 10 kids compete at the multi-day meet. Jayden De Lacruz was seventh in the 12-year-old girl 80-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 17:83 as one of 16 personal-bests set by the Hounds. 

Among the other personal-best times and marks on the girls side included De Lacruz with a time of 31:03 in the 12-year-old 200, Poore with a 37.55 time in the 10-year-old 200 and a 2.96-meter distance in the 10-year-old long jump, Beck with a 1:19.43 time in the 10-year-old 400 and 3.35-meter distance in the 10-year-old long jump, Aniyah Beck with a 1:29.65 in the 11-year-old 400 and 3:18.93 in the 11-year-old 800, and Yoseline Martinez with a 20.90 in the 13-year-old 100 hurdles and 36.85 in the 13-year-old 200 hurdles. 

The boys who set personal-best times and marks included Julian Ruppel with a 1:01.62 time in the 14-year-old 400, a 2:25.68 time in the 14-year-old 800, a 22.40-meter distance in the 14-year-old javelin and a 5.21-meter distance in the 14-year-old long jump, and Jiles Williams with a 11.94-meter distance in the 17-18-year-old triple jump. Ruppel finished sixth in the long jump, and Williams was eighth in the triple jump.