Kahzi Sealey and Jake Brislane added a further two medals on the final day of the Carifta Games as the island’s team concluded their campaign in the Bahamas with five medals.

The overall tally saw the team surpass the three medals won in Jamaica last year.

After winning Bermuda’s first medal on the opening day of the Games on Saturday when runner-up in the under-20 1,500 metres, Sealey capped off the event in style yesterday by claiming a second silver medal in the under-20 5,000 metres, a race in which compatriot Brislane clinched bronze.

The duo raced side by side throughout, working together in an attempt to keep pace with Tafari Waldron, of Trinidad & Tobago, over the first five laps.

But the impressive Waldron pulled miles clear of the Bermuda runners and had the race sewn up coming into the final lap, so it came down to a straight battle between the compatriots for the silver medal, with Sealey ultimately prevailing in 15min 37.56sec — more than four seconds adrift of the race winner — with Brislane following across the line in 15:45.84.

Those individual medals were in addition to J’Auza James’s bronze medal, which he earned in the octathlon on Sunday, with the 17-year-old sealing his podium finish with a gutsy performance in the final event, the 1,500 metres.

Leading the way after the first lap, James settled for second place behind Jermahd Huggins, of St Kitts & Nevis, who sealed victory in 4:30.39, slightly more than five seconds clear of the Bermudian.

Despite missing out on victory, the result proved enough to earn James a place on the final step of the podium behind gold medal-winner Courtney Williams, of Jamaica, and Lavar Deveaux, of the host nation.

Bermuda’s remaining medal came in unexpected fashion when the girls’ under-17 4×100 relay team were awarded bronze yesterday after Jamaica were belatedly disqualified.

J’Naz Richards, Pria Wilson, Lashee Jones and Arima Turner had originally finished fourth in a time of 48.12sec on Sunday and narrowly missed out on the podium as Jamaica claimed gold ahead of Trinidad and Bahamas.

However, the placings were later revised after Jamaica were disqualified when Natrece East, who ran the third leg, was deemed to have stepped outside of her lane.

The ruling meant Trinidad were promoted to gold and the Bahamas gained silver, with Bermuda being awarded a bronze medal.

While Bermuda’s five-medal haul may pale in comparison with the region’s powerhouses of Jamaica, Trinidad and the host nation, Freddie Evans, president of the Bermuda National Athletics Association, was steadfast in his praise of the team.

“To those who are on the outside of our track and field environment, this may have appeared as disappointing but that is far from the truth,” he said.

“Bermuda has the youngest team in the Games. They have all performed and represented strongly.”

While the medal-winners drew the plaudits, Evans was quick to highlight the achievements of the team as a whole with a number of Bermuda’s athletes just missing out on podium places, while some of the younger competitors gave encouraging displays against more experienced rivals.

Among them were Jaeda Grant, who finished fourth in the girls’ under-17 1,500 metres, Tajahri Rogers, who also finished just outside the podium places in the boys’ under-17 1,500 and Sancho Smith, who looked set to win a medal in the under-20 800 metres yesterday, only to be caught on the finishing straight and miss out on a bronze by three tenths of a second.

“Sancho Smith looked like the veteran leader that he is, Ellise Dickinson demonstrated toughness and tenacity, while Fenella Wightman and Jaeda Grant were in an open division, where they can compete for four more years, and ran strong,” added Evans.

“Cameron Adkins was making his Carifta debut and I know he will be back with a strong showing.

“Azari Jones, Amaris Munya, Simeon Hayward and Seer Carey, who were pressed into service in the mixed 4x400 relay, because of team-mate injuries, never gave up and set a new national junior record despite finishing sixth.

“All of the athletes represented the country well, so it’s well done, Team Bermuda.”