medal -- the silver picked up by the youngest member of the team, 12-year-old shot putter Brittney Marshall.

But national track and field coach Gerry Swan was far from despondent about the squad's overall performance.

Besides Marshall's medal, he pointed to the fact that from some 17 events entered, Bermuda's young athletes reached 10 finals and earned six places in the top eight.

Six personal bests were achieved, said Swan, and at least four athletes -- Marshall, distance runner Richard Walcott, sprinter Danielle Watson and shot putter Gabriel Wilkinson -- qualified for the Junior CAC Games in Puerto Rico in July.

Marshall, the daughter of Bermuda cricket captain Charlie Marshall, won her medal on the opening day with a throw of 11.22 metres. On the following day, she reached the final of the girls' under-17 discus, placing eighth with a throw of 29.68 metres. Competing in the same event, Crystal Hayward failed to make the final with her best of 19.67m.

Wilkinson appeared to be in a medal position in the boys' under-20 shot with his best throw of 13.04 metres, but eventually slipped down the field to finish sixth.

And in the under-20 girls' discus, Latanya Dickinson failed to make the final with her best of 25.28m, which placed her 10th.

On the track, Michelle Trott finished fifth in her under-17 200m semi-final, clocking 26.54 seconds, while Danielle Watson clocked a personal best of 25.32 in the same event, narrowly failing to make the final.

In the high jump, Zenzi Swan, one of Bermuda's five first-timers at Carifta, placed seventh with a leap of 1.16m.

Monday's final day of events was highlighted for Bermuda by Richard Walcott, who had won silver in the under-17 800 metres a year earlier. This time he stepped up to the much tougher under-20 division where he produced two personal bests.

In the semi-final he clocked 1:56.92 -- two seconds faster than he had ever run before -- and then in the final placed seventh with another new best time of 1:55.78.

In the girls' under-17 800m, Shar-dae Whitter was timed in 2:28 to finish seventh in the final -- one place better than in 1999 -- having previously clocked a 1500m PB of 5:08.66.

Latanya Dickinson competed in the under-20 shot, her best of 10.29 metres earning her a ninth place finish.