Commonwealth Games sprinter Tre Houston is in the fast lane to fulfilling his huge potential after proving he can compete at the elite level, said Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) president Donna Watson.

The 19-year-old achieved a personal best at the Games in the 100 metres with a time of 10.45 seconds and also reached the semi-finals in his best event, the 200 metres, in which he clocked 21.25.

For Houston, the Games, held in Delhi, India, were the biggest stage of his fledgling career and Watson is thrilled the young runner passed his sternest test to date with flying colours.

"I think Tre performed well in the 100 and 200 especially with this being one of his first senior international events," said Watson. "Surprisingly he ran his personal best in the 100 and not the 200 which is his specialty."

Houston moved to the UK at the start of the year in order to team up with sprint guru Tony Lester who has worked with star athletes such Denise Lewis, Marlon Devonish and Roger Black.

As a pupil at Lester's world-renowned sprint school, Houston has been concentrating on not only improving his physical condition but also his mental approach to running.

His encouraging performances at the Games clearly show Houston's hard work with Lester is beginning to pay off, said Watson.

"I'm very proud of him and it appears the training that he is doing with Tony Lester is beginning to pay off already," she said. "He has only been with Tony since January so can only imagine what sort of season he's going to have next year and leading up to London 2012. He's right on track."

Watson also praised Bermuda's other track and field athlete at the Games, Tyrone Smith, who finished fifth in the long jump final with a leap of 7.76 metres.

Smith, 24, won the gold medal at the CAC Games in Puerto Rico in August with a jump of 8.22 metres, and Watson has challenged him to break the 8 metre barrier more consistently.

Had Smith repeated his CAC Games jump in India he would have claimed the silver medal.

"I'm happy with Tyrone's performance but know that he can jump much longer," she said. "To place fifth in the Commonwealth Games is great but you always prefer to see your athlete lose out on a medal if the medal performances are better than what the athlete can do.

"I personally would like to see Tyrone become more consistent with eight metre jumps and hopefully he can next year be much more consistent in that range."

¦ Southampton runner Otis Robinson, who is currently living in England, came close to breaking 18 minutes in a 5K park race on Saturday.

Robinson, who is living in the Birmingham area, took part in the weekly 5K Parkrun, in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston. He finished 11th overall in a time of 18 minutes and two seconds.

He took off at a fast pace, running close to 5.30 for his opening mile, before slowing slightly during the next two miles. The race was won by Ed Banks, of Birmingham, in 16.20.