After making their presence felt during the last Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Cross Country Championships held in Bermuda in 1995, Mexico appear ready to dominate again when the Island plays host to the competition on November 17-18.

Mexico, who placed three runners in the first four in the men's division and three in the first six in the women's field, are among several countries that are expected to beat today's deadline for final confirmation of teams for the two-day event.

The races will be held at Port Royal Golf Course, having been run during 1995 at Belmont.

Bermuda will be represented by a strong men's team including Kavin Smith, Jay Donawa and Tracy Wright. Donawa only last week won the national Bermuda Cross Country Championships, an event that Smith decided to skip having just returned from the World Half Marathon Championships in England.

Bermuda captured their first ever medal, a bronze, at the championships in Grenada four years ago with a squad consisting of Mike Watson, Tracy Wright, Jamal Hart and Calvin Steede.

Judith Simmons, president of Bermuda Track and Field Association, said that preliminary response from the foreign countries had been good but indicated that everything depended on who met the final confirmation deadline.

However, she was optimistic that numbers would exceed those of six years ago when just under 60 runners participated. As many as 100 are expected this time around.

"There has been a lot of interest shown among the countries and I believe that the numbers will exceed 100. Among the countries showing early interest were, naturally, Mexico and Puerto Rico," said Simmons.

An added attraction this time will be a new junior category for males and females.

The junior and senior females will run separate races on the Saturday, starting at 8.30 a.m. and 9.15 a.m. respectively, while the junior and senior males will follow the same schedule on the Sunday.

Junior females will run over 5.8 kilometres and the junior males over 7.6 kilometres. The senior female course is also 7.6 kilometres and the senior men's course 11.8 kilometres.

Teams are expected to begin arriving on Thursday, November 15 and will be staying at the Sonesta Beach Hotel.