A change of environment appears to be the tonic that was needed to reignite the promising career of quarter-miler Tiffany James, as she ran a personal best (PB) 52.06 seconds to win the girls 400m at the recent Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association’s (JAAA) National Junior Trials at the National Stadium in Kingston.

The 19-year-old, who announced herself with a 400m/800m double in Class Three at the 2012 ISSA Girls Championships, created history as the first medallist for Papine High at the event.

The fifth-ranked junior 400m runner in the world will join second-ranked Junelle Bromfield in the one-lap event at the IAAF World Under-20 Championships in Poland next month, and says she still has a lot of work to do to get her times down to where she thinks she can launch an assault for a medal.

“I am happy [and] my major aim was to come out here today and better my time, as winning the [gold medal] at World Juniors will take a much faster time than 52 seconds,” she told the

Jamaica Observer after her run at trials. “I did not get the 51 seconds that I really wanted, but it’s a new PB, so I am thankful.”

Despite consistently making national teams and qualifying for finals at regional championships such as the Carifta Games, James says she was not pleased with her form over the last two seasons.

“For the past two years, I have been running 53 seconds constant, constant, constant, but this year, each time I run I have been getting faster and faster, so this year has been the best of the last three years,” James said.

She credited her new coach, former World Championships 400m gold medallist Bert Cameron, Marvin Anderson and her family for her new-found confidence and faster times.

“I am happy with where I am — new coach, new environment, stronger motivation, and my coaches have been pushing me. I have a lot of people pushing me,” she said.

The next stop, she says, will be the JAAA Olympic Trials next weekend, where she says she hopes the better competition will push her to run even faster. “My aim is to make the finals at Senior Trials and get another PB,” she noted.

— Paul Reid