the talk of the town, Raneika Bean is still your typical 15-year-old. ..shy and unassuming and wondering what all the fuss is about.

Last night the Bermuda Track and Field Association held a reception to honour the performances of the seven athletes in Trinidad: Bean, Latanya Dickinson, Tariq Hewey, Gabriel Wilkinson, Calvert Lee, Janine Scott and Richard Walcott.

Youth and Sports Director Brenton Roberts and Austin Woods, president of the Bermuda Olympic Association, were in attendance along with with BTFA officials and parents of the athletes.

"This is the beginning of track careers that we don't know where they're going to lead, but you're following in the footsteps of stalwarts such as Troy Douglas, Brian Wellman and Debbie Jones,'' said Roberts as he noted that a number of personal bests were turned in by the youngsters.

"For the young lady who broke Debbie Jones' record, I can remember when that (Jones' record) was done and what glory it brought to the community. What you have done is very significant and is just the beginning and we want to wish you well.'' Bean's blistering time of 11.28 seconds in the preliminaries, which set a new Carifta and Bermuda record, was the highlight of the meet from Bermuda's perspective as her gold was the only medal for the team.

"I'm very proud of her, she's done very well and she's not been acting any different,'' said her mother Jeanne.

"She just takes it in her stride and goes on. She's not one to talk very much, but I know she's proud of her accomplishments.'' Raneika's time was so astonishing that a few people locally questioned its validity. It came on a newly-laid Mondo track and the youngster could feel the difference under her feet, even though they hardly touched the ground.

"I knew the track was faster than Bermuda's track,'' said Raneika who was expecting to do a time of about 11.90.

Coach Gregory Simoms, who accompanied the team, is himself a former sprinter so he has a better appreciation of the performance. He said she ran within herself for the last half of the race and estimates she could have gone even faster.

"She's got excellent upper body strength and that is what carried her through,'' said Simons, who compares Bean's style to that of American Marion Jones.

"There were people in the stands who thought it was Marion Jones' sister because she looked like Marion from a distance. When I saw Marion run last year, right away I thought of Raneika.'' Simons pointed out that Bean has not yet started doing weights to strengthen her legs, which get their conditioning from playing football. Still, she was able to beat the top sprinters in the Caribbean in her age group.

"If she had run flat out she would have run about 11.10,'' the coach claimed.

Runners usually only do enough in the preliminaries to qualify. "My instructions to her were to get a good start, check and see where you are and if you are out in front to back off because you had three rounds. She was a great distance in front of everybody at 60 metres and from there on she just coasted to the finish line.

"It was the fastest qualifier in both the under 20s and under 17s. You had two girls coming in who had run 11.03, one a Jamaican and one a Trinidadian, and she just blew them away.

"In the final it really showed because the two Jamaicans got out before her but at 70 metres she went breezing by them and dipped at the tape. It was a great race.'' Bean admits football -- she plays for Wolves Girls -- is her first love. Soon she may have to decide between the two sports.

Simons says the benefits will be far greater in track. "There was a coach there from Arkansas talking to her and we want to let her know that there are a lot of benefits she can receive at this moment,' 'said Simons.

"What she has to do is look at it and grasp it with all she can. She needs to work on getting out of the blocks because the middle of her race to the finish is excellent.

"Football has been giving her injuries, she had an injury on her knee. But I don't want her to give up football right now because that has been giving her her strength. Kicking the ball is strengthening her quads all the time.'' Raneika's mother isn't putting any pressure on her to quit football.

"Eventually she has to make her own decisions, but as a parent I will guide her,'' she said.

"But I can't make the decision for her.''