El Dorado, Kan. - Dominic Lara, an eighth-grader at Benton Middle School this fall, recently qualified for the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in West Palm Beach, Florida. Lara will compete in the 13-year-old division at the Optimist Championships, which will take place July 24-29. He qualified by shooting a round of 76 at a tournament at the Salina Municipal Golf Course June 12. Lara won two Kansas Golf Junior Association (KJGA) events. On June 10, he won the L.W. Clapp Tournament by shooting an 80. He also won a tournament at Crestview Country Club’s South Course June 30 with a round of 77. He also competed in the Woody Austin Junior Invitational at Crestview, finishing 10th in the 13-15 age group division and 24th overall. As a result of being a two-time KJGA event champion, Lara was selected to the KJGA South Central Sectional team, which will compete in a three-day tournament July 21-23 at Wichita’s Reflection Ridge. Along with his busy golf schedule, Dominic will be competing in the youth 13-Under USSSA State Baseball Tournament and the USSSA Baseball World Series, which will take place July 13-20 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Upon completion of all of his July activities, Lara will be defending his 2007 Wichita City Junior Championship August 6-7 at Wichita’s Sim Park. Along with golf and baseball, Lara also participates in football and basketball. Dominic is the son of the Vincent and Cheri Lara and the grandson of Don and Bonnie Nichols, Caroline Lara and the late Raymond Lara.