Bermuda?s junior national athletics squad returned triumphantly from the Caribbean Area Championships in Mexico yesterday having claimed an impressive total of ten medals at the prestigious regional event.

The 18 member squad, 14 of whom produced personal best performances in Central America, were given a euphoric welcome at Bermuda International airport by a jubilant crowd of supporters including friends, family, athletics officials and a bubbling Sports Minister Dale Butler.

?I just wanted to come down to congratulate all of them on a truly fantastic effort,? he said.

?Track and field is obviously on the way up and I am very proud of all of them.?

Bermuda earned two gold medals, with Lovintz Tota winning the long jump in the Under-20 category with an effort of 7.23 metres while high jumper Latroya Darrell won the Under-17 division with a jump of 1.76m.

Tota, who reached the long jump qualifying mark for the Junior World Championships in Italy early next month at the Carifta Games in Bermuda in April, completed a memorable championships by running the 100m in 10.54 seconds ? a time which will also allow him to compete in the sprint at the Worlds.

?I?m very happy with my performance overall,? he said.

?I?ve put in a lot of hard work and to qualify for two events at the World Championships is obviously something I?m very proud of.?

Tota is the only Bermudian athlete who will compete at the event in Italy, and will be heading to Europe on Saturday along with national athletics coach Gerry Swan.

Overall Bermuda?s 18 athletes competed in 36 events, securing a final top eight finish in 33 of them.

Meanwhile, shot putter Brittany Murphy in the Under-20 division broke the junior women?s national record with a throw of 13.18 metres ? the first time she has thrown over the 13m mark in her competitive career.

A clearly delighted Swan said that such outstanding performances meant ?exciting times ahead? for Bermudian athletics.

?We had a large number of brilliant performances,? he said.

?Overall when you consider that we took down 18 athletes and 14 of them achieved their personal bests and we have come home with ten medals ? I think it speaks volumes for the quality of the athletic performances across the board.?

?We do have tremendous potential on this Island,? he continued, ?and the athletes have, to a large extent, been prepared to put in the hard work in order to be successful.

?These young competitors are only beginning their athletic journey and I am sure as long as they remain dedicated we will see a lot more from them.?