Bermuda’s cross-country team are putting the final touches to their preparations ahead of the NACAC Cross-Country Championships in Trinidad next week.For the first time in several years the Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) will send a full complement of runners for both the senior and junior races.Veteran runner Jay Donawa, Chayce Smith, Darico Clarke and youngster Sean Trott have been selected for the senior team, while Trey Simons, Juma Mouchette, Dage Minors and Shawn Herman make up the Island’s junior team.The side leaves Bermuda for Trinidad tomorrow where conditions are expected to be hot and humid.All four senior runners performed well in the recently completed Bermuda Marathon Weekend with national cross-country champion Donawa finishing fourth in the half-marathon and Trott coming one place behind in fifth. Trott also came fifth in the 10K race.Among those nations competing at the Championships are Mexico, USA, Canada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and hosts Trinidad.The Championships will be held at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain on Saturday with the juniors running five kilometres, while the seniors will do battle on an eight kilometre course.Coach Cal Simons is confident the team will do Bermuda proud. He said: “It is a pretty impressive team, especially the younger guys that form up the junior team.“Three of them have been before, they all did fairly well and this year I think Trey won the Cross-Country Championships, and Juma won the overall series so it really depends on how the conditions are.“In regards to the senior side, Darico Clarke will make his debut in the open age group and then you have Jay Donawa and Sean Trott who both ran last year and Chayce Smith who is also doing it for the first time.“I think it is a nice mix of youth and experience for both teams, Jay has been a number of times representing Bermuda and knows what it takes to compete in the event and I think it will be a good experience for the team.“For the first time for a number of years we have a complete team in both categories.“We had a full team in the juniors last year but not the full complement of seniors.New boy Smith is also anxious to see how he gets on in his first championships, and is already thinking of a way to cause a huge upset in the senior division.Known for his expertise –in 800 metre and mile running, the youngster is hoping to stick with the pack until the dying stages where his final kick could prove decisive.“We have been having some good training sessions. Everyone seems to be in good shape, ready to go,” he said.“The youngsters looked good as well, although it is track season at the moment, but they seemed prepared and anxious to see how they all get along.“It is a relatively flat course, which suits me –because I’m a heavy runner so we will see how it works out.“I have had to jump from 20 miles a week to 50 miles a week, so my mileage has gone up.“Being an 800 metre and mile runner I want to be in the mix with the top group until the end and hopefully my kick can get me to the end.“Having someone like Jay going with us is invaluable because he has shown us how to eat before the race, what to drink, what not to drink and so forth because some places you can’t drink their water.“He is a great mentor for all of us and we will be better prepared for this thanks to him.”