A team of rising track stars heads off to the United States today for a weekend indoor meet at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

The team of nine athletes from the Pacers Track Club will be led by coaches Cal Simons and Jarita Dill.

And for Dill it will be a welcome return to her old college where she studied and competed on a track scholarship.

"I am looking forward to going back," said Dill who was with the Pacers as a young athlete.

Now she is giving back.

"It will be nice to return. I haven't been back for four years," said Dill who graduated in 2001.

And Dill said it would be good to expose the young athletes to the indoor track at Seton Hall. "Some have run on an indoor track before but for others it will be the first time. It will be a good experience for them."

The group of athletes is led by Trey Simons who has already qualified for the Carifta Games which will be staged in St. Lucia in April.

Another athlete going to Seton Hall this weekend will be Juma Mouchette who has come within a hair's breadth of qualifying for the annual Carifta Games.

Dill said: "The hope is that they can get some good competition under their belts – especially for those who have qualified for the Carifta Games or are close to qualifying. I hope that their times get faster."

Dill has been coaching the Pacers along with Simons since she returned to Bermuda and she said: "I came up through the Pacers. They are a good bunch of kids and it is nice to watch their progress. I feel I have a connection to them now."

One thing Dill always talks to the young Bermuda athletes about is the track scholarships that are available at US colleges.

"I talk to them all of the time about that. I tell them that if they work hard they can possibly get a scholarship. I try to drive that home all of the time," she said.

The event this weekend is called the Seton Hall University Indoor Developmental Youth Track Meet and Dill said: "There will be kids from all over New Jersey and New York – there will be a lot of talent there."

Head coach of the Pacers, Cal Simons, said: "For years the Bermuda Pacers Track Club has taken athletes abroad and this trip will mark their first appearance at the meet."

The local coaches heard about the Seton Hall meet while they were competing at the East Coast Invitational last summer.

Simons and Mouchette will compete in the 15-16 boys 1,600 and 3,000 metre events. Sprinters Daniel Emery and Kyle Webb will line up in the boys 55 metre event.

Junior middle distance runner and KPMG running series champion Diondre Dowling will compete in the 11-12 boys 800 and 1,600 metre events while in the 11-12 girls age group Aaliyah Nolan, Qaashie Douglas and KPMG Front Street Mile primary school champion Zakiyyah Showers will all compete in the 800 and 1,600 metre events.

A newcomer to track and field, Deeesa Booth, will compete in the 15-16 girls shot putt.

The team will return on Monday.