last night after placing second in the under-17 shot putt at the Junior CAC Championships in Puerto Rico over the weekend.

Marshall's throw of 12.70 metres not only improved her medal-winning performance at the Carifta Games by about five feet but also would have won her the bronze medal in the under-20 girls event...and all this a month before her 13th birthday! "I'm a very proud mom,'' said Brittney's mother, Allison, as she reflected on another outstanding performance by her daughter.

Marshall won the medal on the first day of competition on Friday, and though it eventually turned out to be the only medal for the Bermuda team, there were five other top eight finishes from the six-member squad.

Zindzi Swan placed fifth and sixth in the under-17 girls high jump and triple jump respectively with leaps of 1.62 metres and 10.46 metres. The high jump mark was a season best for Swan -- a couple of centimetres higher than her Carifta Games performance in April as well as two places better. Her triple jump performance was also a personal best.

National coach Gerry Swan, who did not travel with the team, was delighted to hear the news of Marshall's feat and to see the progress other junior athletes were making.

"Brittney, like a number of junior athletes, has been committed to the training, shows a good, healthy attitude, is willing to learn and is very coachable and shows she enjoys competing,'' said Swan, who noted this was Marshall's first season in the national programme.

"She won a medal at Carifta and has now repeated that achievement against even sterner competition.

Brittney bags silver From Page 2 1 "I'm expecting good things from a number of junior athletes but she is the more notable one, given her performances this year. People have to enjoy the challenges that go with it and as a result that increases the likelihood that good performances will come out of that.'' Swan noted that Marshall lost some of her sharpness after Carifta, but her return to form was timely.

"After Carifta she went through a period where she lost a bit of her technique and the performances were not at the level they had been prior to Carifta,'' Swan stated.

"But she worked through the rough patch and things started to come together again just prior to the Junior CAC Championships when she started showing signs of her former self.

"This performance surpasses everything she has done in every aspect, in terms of distance. She also showed a competitive resilience in that by way of comparison in Carifta she held second position right to the final round, whereas this past weekend she was in fourth place for the qualifying round and had to work her way up to the silver medal position.'' Shar-Dae Whitter placed fifth in the under-17 1200 metres with a time of 4:02.63 while Gabriel Wilkinson in the under-20 boys was fifth in the shot with a throw of 13.53 metres. That was also a PB for Wilkinson.

Richard Walcott was the fourth athlete to turn in a PB at the championships, placing ninth in the under-20 1500 metres in a time of 4:07.33. Eighteen athletes entered that event with the Mexicans occupying the top three places.

The Bermuda team were accompanied by manager Roger Lee, coach Michael Swan, who is also the vice-president of the BTFA, and chaperone Gail Scott. BTFA president Judith Simmons also travelled to Puerto Rico to make a presentation to the CAC confederation.

Three of the athletes, Marshall, Swan and Whitter, returned home last night while the other three, Danielle Watson, Walcott and Wilkinson have travelled to North Carolina where they will meet up with the Pacers track team later this week for the Russell E. Blunt/East Coast Invitational this weekend.