disappointing trip to the CAC Track and Field Championships in Puerto Rico.

Bronze medals on Saturday from Brian Wellman, Troy Douglas and Terrance Armstrong turned yesterday's flight home from San Juan into a buoyant one -- even among the five other athletes who didn't earn any medals.

"It was a good night,'' said Bermuda Track and Field Association spokesman Bob Oliver.

Good enough to overcome the team's woeful first two days at Sixto Escobar Stadium but not good enough to stop an overpowering Cuban team. Cuba were one of few teams among the 30 countries to send all of their best athletes and as a result captured a whopping 40 medals, including 22 gold.

And it was the Cubans who prevented both Wellman -- in the triple jump -- and Douglas -- in the 200 metres -- from moving up a step on the medal podium.

Douglas was third in the 200m behind Cuba's Ivan Garcia and Jamaica's Elston Cawley. His time of 20.88 seconds was just .03 seconds behind Cawley and .5 behind Garcia, who was second in the World Indoor Championships (where Douglas was fourth).

Douglas, who won his semi-final heat, was sixth heading into the stretch before turning on the afterburners, Oliver said.

Consistency marked Wellman's medal. He had three leaps in the high 16-metre range and produced a best of 17.03 to move him into third behind winner Jerome Romaine of Dominica (17.53) and Cuba's Joel Garcia.

"Good, solid, steady jumping,'' Oliver said of Wellman, who has struggled over the past year because of injuries and poor form.

While strong performances from Wellman and Douglas weren't unexpected, a medal from Armstrong was, especially after he ran the 3,000 metres steeplechase the night before.

"We thought we made a mistake for the 1,500 metres the next day,'' said Oliver. "He had told (national team coach) Gerry (Swan) not to expect much (in the 1.500) because his legs felt tired and heavy.'' But the gamble paid off. Armstrong, who finished in the middle of the pack in the steeplechase, gutted it out on the final lap of the 1,500m and out-duelled his opponent from Martinique in the last 100 metres to take the bronze.

He recorded a time of 3:51.92, compared to the 3:47.23 turned in by winner Hector Torres.

Other strong efforts came from Devon Bean in the long jump and Kavin Smith in the half-marathon.

Bean set back-to-back personal bests, settling for sixth place with a leap of 7.61 metres. And Smith was eighth in a time of 1:11:36 against some of the world's top distance runners.

Mexico's Victor Rodriguez finished the 21.098 kilometre race in 1:07:07.

Neither Smith's nor Armstrong's times were personal bests, something Oliver attributed to the hot, steamy weather.

After seeing their squad reduced to eight because of an injury to Atiba Tucker, Bermuda's hopes were further wiped out through the first two days of the meet. And it didn't help when Jay Donawa, who turned in a disappointing time in the 5,000 metres, had to pull out of the 1,500 because of sickness.

Cuban runner Ana Fidelia Quirot set a second event record by winning the women's 1,500m in 4:18.00. The gold medal came a day after her record breaking victory in the 800 metres, putting an exclamation mark on her comeback from near-fatal burns she suffered in an accidental fire at her home in Cuba in 1993.

Armstrong, Wellman and Douglas went back to their respective training bases following a stopover in New York late yesterday (the latter two will be going to the World Outdoor Championships in Athens in August). Smith, Bean, Donawa, Xavier James and Sheldon Thompson returned to Bermuda last night.

BRONZE HAT-TRICK -- Terrance Armstrong (left), Troy Douglas (centre) and Brian Wellman all snatched bronze medals on the final day of the CAC track and field championships in Puerto Rico on Saturday.