Close, but not close enough.

Ashley Couper came within two tenths of a second of breaking another Bermuda track record at the weekend.

Just weeks after smashing the Island's 1500 metre record twice in the space of a fortnight, Couper turned her attentions to the 800 metres.

Competing at the Cardinal Qualifier meet at Stanford University in California on Sunday, Couper clocked a time of two minutes 5.82 seconds.

She believed that she had eclipsed the record held by Jennifer Fisher, but an inspection of the Royal Gazette archives showed otherwise.

Couper had thought the previous mark held by Fisher was 2:06.52.

She had indeed recorded that time back on March 22, 1995, at the Pan-Am Games in Argentina, but two days later she went even faster -- crossing the line in 2:05.62 for sixth place in the final.

Although her finish did not get her into the record books back home, Couper's performance was enough to give the fifth best all time run at Stanford.

Her 1500m run of 4:20.59, recorded at the Cardinal Track and Field Invitation at the beginning of the month, may prove good enough to see her make the NCAA field later this year.

And this latest achievement could mean the Bermudian is chosen to run in two events at the prestigious meet.

"I'm very excited about it,'' she said from the US. "There's a good chance that that time will get me into Nationals for the 800 too.'' Couper said her mindset was perfect prior to the run.

"I was totally relaxed all day and almost forgot I was racing tonight (Sunday) a few times,'' she said.

"It's a pretty low-key meet, yet really fast people come to it, so our race was set up really well.'' Couper said she had prepared well and knew exactly what gameplan was required.

"We went out really fast and I knew I just had to go with the leaders and I would have a great time and that's what happened,'' she said after her third-placed finish.

Couper said her next focus would be the Pac 10 conference meet this coming weekend.

"I'm not sure yet if I'm running the 800 or 1500 and then after that I'll be tuning up for the Nationals,'' she said.

Ashley Couper: Just two tenths of a second shy of Jennifer Fisher's 800m national record.