Rae-Anne Serville erased a 19-year-old Trinidad and Tobago record from the books on the opening day of the NGC/NAAA National Junior Track and Field Championships at the Hasely Crawford Stadium yesterday. The Memphis Pioneers athlete scorched the track in 52.89 seconds to improve on the 52.91 national junior (under-20) 400 metres record established by Adia McKinnon way back in 2000.

Halfway through the girls’ under-20 one-lap final, there were no challengers in sight for Serville. And coming off the final turn, there were many metres of daylight between the 17-year-old quartermiler and her rivals. It was a race against the clock and Serville was equal to the task, digging deep into her reserves to become the new national junior record holder.

A smiling Serville looked up into the main stand to acknowledge her mother’s screaming celebration. The 52.89 sizzler was well inside the 54.30 Pan Am Junior Championship qualifying standard and a huge PR (personal record) for the talented teen, bettering her previous best of 54.14, the clocking that secured gold at the 2019 Southern Games. The new PR earned Serville a 17-place jump on the 2019 world under-18 performance list, from 23rd to sixth.