Bermuda's most experienced athletes -- Brian Wellman, Kavin Smith and Terrance Armstrong -- capped off the CAC Championships in Barbados on the weekend by winning three medals for the Island.

Former indoor world champion Wellman struck gold in the triple jump while distance runners Armstrong (1500 metres) and Smith (half-marathon) grabbed silver.

All three medals came on the final day of competition with Smith taking second place in a race which started at 6.00 a.m. on Sunday and took the runners in and around Bridgetown. Despite the intense heat, Smith clocked an impressive time of 1:09.27, just outside his Bermuda half-marathon record of 1:08.51 set last November.

Wellman won gold with a jump of 16.36 metres and Armstrong the silver late on Sunday night.

And that silver by Armstrong was very close to being a gold as the Bermudian was pipped at the finish line by a Mexican runner who broke the tape in 3:46.74, just three 100ths of a second ahead of Armstrong in 3:46.77.

Bermuda also just missed out on a bronze in the women's 1500 metres on the final day when Ashley Couper placed fourth with a personal best time of 4:35.60.

Between 400 and 500 athletes from about 26 countries competed in the championships.

"We sent down a team of seven athletes and we have three medals -- a gold and two silvers -- and two fourth place finishes, so out of seven people we have five who have really achieved something,'' said Bermuda Track and Field Association president Judy Simmons yesterday.

Simmons received a call from national coach Gerry Swan at midnight on Sunday confirming the medal haul.

"I'm really elated about it and excited for the athletes,'' said the president.

"As for those who did not do so well, there was Xavier James who was injured, but who had high hopes of doing well. For Damian (Simmons) this was his first senior competition at 20-years-old and he learned from his experience.

"I don't think anything is lost from this. We sent down the team that qualified and they have done Bermuda proud.'' Medals for Wellman and Armstrong will serve as a boost in confidence ahead of the Pan-Am Games in Canada next month.

"Brian, Terrance and Devon (Bean) had already qualified for the Pan-Am Games and we were hoping that Xavier would be able to qualify,'' said Simmons. "He had run a 10.43 but unfortunately we didn't have the wind guage equipment and the criteria is that we must have both, electronic timer and wind guage. So we were hoping that in going to this competition he would be able to run a similar time there to qualify.'' Wellman and Armstrong were not expected to return to Bermuda with the rest of the team last evening as both are based in the United States, while Smith's return was questionable as he was on stand-by for the flight from New York to Bermuda.

Smith had to change his travel arrangements because of a colleague's funeral last week in Bermuda which delayed his departure.

Brian Wellman: gold medal.