change. The bellowing roar of an enthusiastic crowd.

The place, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, site of the 100th running of the Penn Relays.

A veritable minefield of talent, where careers can be made or forever lost.

Where stars may be born or eternally soiled. An arena that has entertained the best from around the globe...Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell et al.

On Saturday five young members of the Hamilton Harriers Youth Track Club will attempt to leave their own indelible marks at this prestigious event and hopefully move on to bigger and better things.

An Olympic gold medal, World Championship or, dare say, world record? A simple scholarship will do -- for now.

Continuing with what has become an annual pilgrimage, Harriers coach Steve Burgess will lead his charges to the Mecca of college athletics.

Nakia Pearson, Atiba Tucker, Jason Robinson and Devon Bean will combine forces against their counterparts in the 4x400 metres relay with the aim of impressing talent scouts from the various colleges expected to be on hand.

Rising female sprinter, Keena Trott, will also accompany the team as manager, but will not compete.

Trott and Bean have, in fact, already received offers from Julie Harris, the track coach at the highly regarded St. John's University in New York, although details with regard to any scholarship remain unknown.

All the athletes, except for Bean, who attended Warwick Secondary, are graduates of Berkeley Institute and maintain a close friendship. In addition, the quintet also appear to have their priorities squarely set and while athletics may be the means, academics remain the end.

"If everything goes well I will impress the coaches enough that I can go away on a scholarship this summer,'' said Trott, whose disciplines include the 100, 200, 400 and long jump. She plans to meet with Harris to find out what her needs are and how they fit into the programme at the university.

"I'm really looking towards St. John's because they have a really good programme athletically and academically.'' Meanwhile, the lanky Tucker has his thoughts set on redemption from a failed bid in 1992 when his 4x100 team was disqualified and then Tucker was guilty of dropping the baton during the 4x400, dashing hopes yet again.

"Yeah, I have to set the record straight this time,'' said the 17-year-old Tucker, a previous inter-school champion with an aim to major in electrical engineering. "I think my chances (of getting a scholarship) are better than average and if I don't there's always next year.

"Bermuda can only offer so much and Steve is trying to set us on a path to get ahead. It's going to take a lot of training and discipline and you must have the desire and I have all of those.'' Having graduated with a 3.0 average from Berkeley and being skilled athletically, Pearson would appear to be any athletic director's dream.

He plans to pursue a double major in graphic design and athletic administration and knows what attributes he brings to the table.

"I basically want to show her (Harris) that I have a good work ethic and discipline about me,'' said Pearson, set to anchor in the relay.

Currently there are eight Hamilton Harriers abroad on track scholarships, including distance runner Ben Dyer at Emory University in Atlanta and Tony Bean at Delaware State University.

"These athletes are all very talented, they just haven't been seen,'' noted Burgess, a premier 800 metre runner during his heyday. "The basis here is to make contact and I feel their chances are very good.'' The contingent is scheduled to leave today and return on Monday.

DEVON BEAN.