Bermudian distance runner Larry Marshall is coming off his finest cross-country season ever on the US collegiate circuit.

The 21-year-old St. Augustine College student set ablaze regional cross-country championships across Raleigh, North Carolina, seizing line honours in four events of a seven-race series to qualify for the NCAA Division Two Championships held earlier this month in Evansville, Indiana.

The Devonshire resident captured titles at the Central Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) meet, the University of North Carolina Pembroke Invitational, the Greater America Cross-Country Festival Small College Division and the Southeast Regional Division Two Cross-Country Championships during the recently concluded season that began in September.

The St. Augustine senior also set a new course record at the Southeast Regional Championships, completing the 10 kilometre course in a time of 32 minutes and 18 seconds.

Marshall attributed his recent success to additional speed work on the track, dedication and a gruelling training schedule that saw the local athlete clock over 60 miles a week.

?I think through that combination I was able to be successful,? he told from North Carolina yesterday.

?But it?s very satisfying and I am very pleased to have actually won the Southeast Regional Division Two Championship because I had been runner-up in the event for the past two years.?

Marshall also gained satisfaction in qualifying for the NCAA championships where he placed 101st in a top class field of 180 athletes.

?I?d say that probably had to be one of the toughest courses I have ever seen in my cross-country career,? he said. ?It took me quite a while to really settle down and I think I could have done a little better.

?But it was a very good experience for me and hopefully I can do better next year.?

Marshall, cousin of veteran local cricketer Charlie Marshall, now hopes he can carry this consistent form over to the indoor track circuit when the new semester commences in early January.