Local sprinter Keivon Richardson enjoyed a record-breaking weekend, emerging as the top male athlete at the Rome Relays held on Saturday in Georgia.

Richardson set a pair of high school individual meet records, played major roles in two other team events and was named the Most Valuable Male Athlete by meet officials for his efforts.

First up was the 100 metres where the Winder Barrow High School senior exploded out of the blocks on his way to a personal best time of 10.59 seconds, blowing away the field as well as the old mark of 10.93. The time also bettered the school record of 10.70.

Next was the 200 metres where a similar scenario evolved with the speedster breaking the tape in 22.20, which was .16 seconds faster than the previous best meet time.

It was then time to combine forces as Richardson joined team-mates Steven Phillips and brothers Alfonso and Demetrius Dexter for the 4x100 metres relay.

The quartet were faultless as they rounded the oval in 43.50 seconds with Richardson running the second leg.

However, the best was yet to come as Richardson anchored his 4x400 team to a stunning victory in three minutes, 29 seconds, a full three seconds faster than the previous meet record.

Richardson was understandably excited when he spoke of his achievements to The Royal Gazette .

"I feel really good and proud of what I have accomplished,'' said the 18-year-old, who has an eye on being an airplane pilot. "I'm warming up for next week's regional meet in Oconee County and then the state meet in another three weeks in Jefferson County.

"I'm steadily improving. They have a good weight programme here which has improved my strength as well as my reaction time getting out of the blocks.'' Richardson's immediate goals are to qualify in the 100 metres for the World Junior Championships set for Lisbon, Portugal, later this year and the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada, both of which have qualifying standards of 10.5 seconds.

Long range, Richardson is looking toward the 1996 Summer Olympics and World Championships.

Making the youngster's achievements all the more remarkable was the fact that Richardson has never been regarded very high on the local scene, with his success being more a triumph of perseverance, hard work and dedication.

"He's blossoming now, but he wasn't always noted as a top sprinter,'' said coach Steve Burgess, who has played a major part in the development of Richardson, taking the youngster under his wing as a member of the Hamilton Harriers Track Club.

"He's now lining himself up for a potential scholarship. I'm impressed and proud and it shows that we really have a lot of talent on the Island.'' Burgess, an 800 metres star who attended the University of Georgia in nearby Athens, Georgia, recommended Richardson to Barrow coach Isiah Berry and the partnership has so far proved fruitful.

"The competition there is ideal,'' said Burgess. "He races twice a week, which is something we don't have here.

"Also the location is perfect. He's outside of the major cities and the distractions that come with them.'' Bermuda will get the opportunity to see Richardson, as well as several other prominent local and overseas talent during next week's Heritage Invitational Track Meet at National Stadium.

Richardson is likely to face world 60 metres record holder Andre Cason, and when asked of his chances against the American the youngster said: "Right now I'll settle for second, but in the future...'' More on Heritage, page 27 KEIVON RICHARDSON -- Bermuda athlete was named Most Valuable Male Athlete following a meet in Georgia at the weekend where he smashed a pair of records.

ANDRE CASON -- Could face Richardson next week.