Starting in April with around 18 kids coming out to the first-ever track practice for the Mexico Hounds Running Club, it was a lackluster start with rain, thunder, and lightning that ended practice before warm-ups were even finished.  

Fast-forward eight weeks and the Hounds have nearly 30 young athletes ranging from 6-15 years old and working on a variety of track events including shot put, long jump, javelin, and nearly every distance race from 100 meters to 1600 meters.  

The first meet for the Hounds against other clubs took place on June 5 at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia. This was the first of four consecutive meets at Rock Bridge by the Columbia Track Club. Over 300 athletes from around Mid-Missouri were set to compete and the Hounds appeared to be ready even though for most of them it would be their first track competition ever. 

The girls took to the long jump pit and several of the girls set some personal best jumps from last season by several inches or more. Along with them growing bigger, faster, and stronger than they were a year ago, the Hounds have the benefit of having one of the best jumpers Mexico has ever had as their jumps coach, Jasean White. Eleven girls competed in the long jump in their respective age groups, with five of them earning top 6 finishes to reach the podium.  Two of the most impressive jumps were from Alice Fergie and Zuri Crews. They both won their respective age groups, with Fergie jumping 11’ 2” and Crews jumping 10’ 6”.  

While the girls were jumping, the boys were in the shot put ring making their mark. Eleven Hounds took their turn throwing the shot put while cheering on their teammates while they waited in line. Out of the 11, eight Hounds had podium finishes, which included two individual champions in their respective age groups. Bakari Williams threw an impressive 28’3” to take home first in his age group while newcomer JT Lentz threw nearly 30 feet at an official mark of 29' 10".  

On the track, the Hounds had to adapt on the fly when the meet conditions were not similar to what they had been practicing for the past two months. The Hounds showed great flexibility and adaptability when met with these challenges. The Hounds had 28 total runners spread out between the four contested distances. Out of the 28 runners, 19 Hounds placed in the top 6 of their respective age group and distance. Out of those 19, four hounds placed first in at least one of their races. Bakari Williams, Roman Kelly, and Zuri Crews took home first in the 200m dash in their respective age groups. Vuyanna Graham and Roman Kelly won their 400m dash races.  Roman Kelly maxed out his events with an impressive run in the mile and took first in it with a time of 6:01, which is a 30+ second improvement of his previous best time.  

The Hounds did compete on Wednesday, June 12th but official results are still pending. Look for future updates next week.  

The Hounds will compete again the next two Wednesdays, June 19 today and June 26 at Rock Bridge HS before hosting the Mexico Hounds Invitational on Saturday, June 29 at Mexico High School.