women's national team still managed to win a bronze medal at the CAC Regional Cross-Country Championships on Saturday.

The winning team of Anna Eatherley, Jennifer Fisher and Donna Bean made history when they became the first local team to pull off a medal-winning performance at the event.

The men's national team -- inspired by Kavin Smith -- narrowly missed a medal when they finished fourth. Other members were Tracy Wright, Kevin Tucker and Jamal Hart.

Mexico were the overall champions by wrapping up the titles in the men's and women's divisions. Puerto Rico was second in the men's division followed by Jamaica and then Bermuda.

Second to Mexico in the women's division was Jamaica, with Bermuda third and the Bahamas fourth.

The battle for the 19-strong Bermuda contingent started long before reaching The Bahamas. It actually kicked off when they arrived at New York's Kennedy Airport on a Friday morning flight from Bermuda only to find a combination of snow, ice and a packed gates preventing a quick getaway from their airplane.

The second major problem occurred when they discovered that their connecting flights were cancelled after the airport closed down and the group was forced to find overnight accommodations. The contingent then had to settle for lodging in Manhattan after failing to get a hotel near the airport.

The tale of what they experienced next was frustrating and they were eventually grateful to leave New York by air on Saturday morning -- even though they had to be split into two separate groups.

Tour manager Beldwin Smith said: "It was a terrible experience, in fact, one or two considered going back home.'' Attempts to catch a train to Atlanta and Miami failed to materialise because trains were full. Every effort was made to get them to Miami on the Friday.

As it was, the Bermuda's women's team just barely managed to reach the start of the race with organisers allowing them a late gun.

"It was the hardest cross-country I have ever run,'' said Eatherley. "In addition to having gone to the start directly from the airport, it was tough adjusting from the cold. We had just left in New York to all of that heat in Nassau.

"And the course was a tough one with steep uphills. You basically had to hold your head down and tackle. There were also loose stones along the down-hills.

We were lucky that we abandoned our spikes going into the race.'' Watson was the early aggressor on the Bermuda team as she went out and challenged the Mexicans for awhile. When she tired, Fisher played a similar role and near the end it was left up to Eatherley -- the more durable runner over that distance -- to carry home the banner.

Following Eatherley home in 21:12 for seventh overall was Fisher in 22:26 (12th) and Watson (22:57, 13th). The other Bermuda runner, Julia Hawley, finished 19th in 25:46.

Kavin Smith made a strong challenge in the men's division and was among the leaders during the first three-and-a-half laps of the five-lap 12.2-K course.

Smith finished 10th overall in 44:55, Wright was 18th in 47:59, Tucker 26th in 49:23 and Hart 32nd in 51:19.

The overall winner -- Benjamin Paredes of Mexico -- finished in 41:25. Other local runners were Brett Forgesson, who was 23rd in 48:42, Kevin Tucker (26th, 49:23), Vernon Tankard (34th, 51:56), Jeremy Ball (36th, 52:58) and Harry Patchett (37th, 53:08).

Manager Smith gave credit to all of the athletes, claiming that they all did a "great job'' despite the many problems they faced prior to the event.

"Things were complicated even further at the end of the event,'' recalled Smith. "When we finally reached our hotel after all of the races, we discovered that the hotel had cancelled our reservations.'' The absence of Bermuda's top road runners impacted on Sunday's Crowne Life Round the Town Race as Manuel Lopes grabbed a rare victory, clocking 28:02 to defeat Greg Hopkins (28:32) and Colin Swan (29:21).

On the women's side, Karen Adams was first home in 31:45 followed by Melanie Claude (34:05) and Donna-Mae Fletcher (35:42).

SUCCESSFUL TRIP -- Anna Eatherley, right, led Bermuda to a bronze medal, while Kavin Smith inspired his team-mates to a fourth-place finish.