Tre Houston, the Bermuda’s top sprinter, set a personal best in the 60?metres at the Howie Ryan Invitational at the University of Houston at the weekend.

Houston, who relocated to his namesake city last year, posted a time of 6.79 seconds to place third in the semi-final, finishing tenth overall out of 79 competitors.

He has run a personal best in every race he has entered over the shorter distance this indoor season and believes that he will only get quicker as he continues to improve under his new coach.

“[The Howie Ryan Invitational] was actually my second meet of the season and I’m already moving in the right direction, setting PBs in every race,” Houston said.

“I opened the season with 6.92 and after talking to my coach, Eric Francis, went back to the drawing board to correct a few things I did wrong.

“Once I fixed all the necessary things to run quicker, I was much more confident going into the meet. I ended up running two new PBs, a 6.84 and then a 6.79, running against a strong field in the semi-finals.” Houston, who lined up in the Invitational semi-finals against Trinidad’s Richard Thompson, the 100?metres silver medal-winner at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, already has one eye on the outdoor season. His main objective this season will be Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July, a competition for which he has already qualified. “Overall the meet was great and my season is going very well,” Houston added. “I have a few more indoor meets left but I’m not focusing on the World Indoor Championships, I’m just using these meets as a jump start for outdoor season.”

Houston spent the entirety of last season in Bermuda after returning home from London where he had spent the previous two years training at a renowned sprint stable.

Starved of meaningful meets and training by himself, Houston had started to cut a frustrated figure until claiming a sprint double at the NatWest Island Games in Bermuda last summer, setting competition records in both events.

Since teaming up with his new coach, Francis, Houston has been training alongside promising sprinters such as Antoine Adams of St Kitts and Nevis. Adams helped his country to win bronze in the 4?x?100 metres relays at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.

Before heading to Texas, Houston spent several months working as a personal trainer at Evolution Gym in St David’s to help ease the financial burden of relocating. He has also received cash support from family, friends and Somers Supermarket and Selena’s restaurant in St George’s.