By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

CACHE Armbrister is hoping that a change in training location from Kingston, Jamaica, to Houston, Texas, will enable her to finally make her breakthrough as a competitor in an individual event at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and the Olympic Games this year.

Armbrister, who has suffered a series of injury-plagued seasons since she graduated from Auburn University, said she is healthy and running extremely well in her new environment with the Elite Performance Track Club, coached by Eric Francis.

On Saturday, Armbrister turned in a personal best of 7.46 seconds to finish fifth in the women’s 60 metres at the Charlie Thomas Invitational at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.

Armbrister’s team-mates, Michelle-Lee Ahye and Lavern Jones-Ferrette, took the top two spots in times of 7.17 and 7.34 respectively. Ahye’s time turned out to be a new meet record, erasing the previous mark of 7.32 that was set by Tawana Meadows in 2015.

Since March, Armbrister has been training with Francis and she said she has been injury free so she is excited about her future.

“I’m getting stronger and I’m learning how to sprint efficiently, so it’s going quite well,” Armbrister, who is also training with Grand Bahamian Johnathan Farquharson, said.

After meeting Francis in 2013, Armbrister said she was impressed with the fact that he is not just a coach, but also a physiotherapist.

“He worked on me when we were in Mexico. I got injured last year at the Texas Relays and I just stayed there to do therapy with him and I just decided to make the move afterwards,” Armbrister said.

“It’s a very good good working environment. It’s the best of both worlds for me because Eric is a really good physiotherapist and he’s a really good coach.

“So I really don’t have to travel far if I need to be seen by a physio or if I have an injury that I need to get nipped in the bud right away.”

The Charlie Thompson Invitational was the first meet for the 26-year-old Armbrister, but this is her first full indoor season since she graduated from Auburn. She noted that she is eager to be running indoors again and if her performances are any indication, she could be well on her way to the World Indoors in Eugene, Oregon, next month.

“Since I started competing this season, my times have been dropping in each meet,” Armbrister said.

“I have another meet on Friday, so I am going to be running as many meets as I can to try and qualify for the World Indoors before the deadline at the first week in March.”

If she doesn’t run the qualifying standard of 7.32 seconds, Armbrister said she just wants to remain injury-free as she gears up for the Olympics in August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Every season so far since I graduated from Auburn, I’ve been injured,” Armbrister recalled.

“Coming down to the most crucial part, which is the championships, I have been plagued with nagging injuries.

“So my aim is just to make sure that I remain in my tip top form at the end of the year so that I can compete.

“I made it on the national team to compete as an individual in 2013 at the CAC Championships and the World Championships for the 100 metres, but unfortunately, I was still injured,” she reflected.

“But right now, things are going very well so I know that by the time June rolls around and I’m free of injuries, I will be at the starting line trying to earn my spot on the Olympic team.”

At this stage in her training, Armbrister said she’s gearing up to run either - or a combination of - the 100m, 200m and 400m.

“I haven’t decided yet which one will be my premier event for this year,” she said.

“But my training covers me to be competitive in any of the three events.”

And although she has some times that she would like to achieve this year, Armbrister said she does not want to reveal them.

“The best thing that I can do is to go out there and execute a technically sound race and if I do that, I know I will be right in the time frame that I have set,” she predicted.

“I’m just looking forward to staying injury free and if I can do that, I know that the sky is going to be the limit for me this year.”

As she gears up for her own performances this year, Armbrister sent a message to the Queen’s College Comets as they get set to defend their Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools’ Track and Field Championship title against her alma mater, St Augustine’s College ‘Big Red Machine’.

“Sometimes, it’s what they call in poker or any other game, beginner’s luck,” she said.

“I congratulate them for winning, but sometimes you actually slip up and there’s no way that the athletes and coaches at SAC will allow that to happen again. Good luck to everybody, but I can go on record as predicting that the Big Red Machine will regain the title this year.”

The championships start today at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium.