Bermuda's most promising young thrower, Gabriel Wilkinson, will have his sights set on a record that is older than he is when he participates in the National Track and Field Championships this weekend at the National Sports Centre.

Described by national coach Gerry Swan as "the first thrower to come through the programme and achieve good performance levels in a good handful of years'', Wilkinson will be aiming to put his name amongst the top Bermuda throwers of the past when he goes for Dilton Woodley's 20-year-old record.

March 25, 1979 was the date that Woodley, now residing overseas, threw the discus 45.14 metres and Wilkinson, four years younger than Woodley was at that time, is already in that range.

"What I want to do this weekend is break the discus record, if not I'll be happy with a PB,'' said Wilkinson, whose best throw this year with the men's (2.6k) discus has been 42.22 metres.

If Wilkinson does not achieve the record this year, Swan is confident it will happen soon.

"The Bermuda record was set all of 20 years ago and I think it's time for a new Bermuda record,'' said Swan.

"Gabriel has shown tremendous progress this season, arising from his commitment. We set some goals this season and have achieved a large portion of those goals.

"He wants to go to the championships and try to do well, in the sense of getting a personal best. He has shown improvement in both the shot and the discus events, although I would say there has been a far more marked improvement in the discus at this point.'' Wilkinson, who names American throwers John Godina and TJ Hunter as two of his role models, as well as older brother Garon, is also establishing himself as a role model amongst his peers. He was one of the six youngsters who received an award from the Junior Athletic Scholarship programme in March.

At his school sports this year, Wilkinson set records in the shot (49.10 feet) and discus (157 feet) as well as placing first in the javelin (142 feet) and 200 metres.

At the inter-school sports that followed Wilkinson was first in the shot with a throw of 52ft 3ins, which broke the old record by a couple of feet. His throw of 152 feet in the discus was just short of a record while he was also second in the 200 metres and shared the over-15 champion boy title with Tyler Butterfield.

He is hoping for a scholarship in the future and will be using overseas events like the East Coast invitationals and Junior Pan Am Games to advertise his potential.

"Next year I'll probably go up to the Bermuda College and sign up for the College Bound Student Athletes (CBSA) programme and they send your resume around so you can get a scholarship,'' he said.

"Because I am hoping to go to the East Coast and Junior Pan Americans this summer, hopefully I can impress some coaches.'' Wilkinson remains focused and determined in the sport even though he doesn't have the competition he would like in his age group. He has made steady progress since placing ninth in the discus and fifth in the shot at the Carifta Games.

"When Nicky Saunders was coming along there wasn't much competition for him as a high jumper and similarly for Brian Wellman in the triple jump,'' Swan points out.

A number of top junior athletes will be in action on Saturday and Sunday, as the junior and senior championships are combined. They include Tariq Hewey, who will be aiming for qualification in the Junior Pan Ams in the 100 and possibly the 200 metres.

Others include Stacey Babb, a bronze medallist in triple jump at the Junior CAC last year, former May 24 winner Tracy Wright who is trying to qualify for the 2000 Olympics as well as the CAC and Pan Am Games in the 10,000 metres and Damian Simmons and Kondwani Williams.

Carifta silver medallist Richard Walcott will also be in action along with other members of this year's Carifta team, Patrina Swan, Shar-dae Whitter and Jennifer Young and Whitter's younger sister, Shay-la. Ashley Cooper, a candidate for the Senior CAC team in Bahamas this month over the 400, 800 and 1500 metres, will also compete.

Weighing it up: Gabriel Wilkinson has been showing great potential in both the discus and shot putt and is aiming to set a new Bermuda record in the former at this weekend's National Championships.