Bio

Paula (Peters) James is as accomplished of a runner as you can find in the history of Canadian university sport. Among all James’ achievements, her favourite is winning the national gold medal in the 4x400m relay in 1996. James won the relay with a team that included Terri Baker and Marsha Moore, who all ran together at a club level since the age of 12 and was rounded out by Margie Jenkins.  

The Lower Sackville, N.S. native impressed everyone in the nation in her first season at Dal. In the 1992-93 season, James won three AUAA (now AUS) gold medals, a CIAU (now U SPORTS) bronze medal in the 600m race and a CIAU silver medal in the 4x800m relay. She was the AUAA Rookie of the Year for her accomplishments and made second-team all-Canadian.  

In her second season with the Tigers, James successfully defended her gold medal in the 600m at the AUS championship along with her fellow Tigers, retained the 4x400m and the 4x800m gold medals. At the national level that year she repeated as the bronze medallist in the 600m and was a member of the team that repeated as silver medallists in the 4x800m.  

In the 1994-95 season, James built on the previous year’s success, winning three AUAA gold medals and a silver medal in the 4x400m relay at nationals. James won her first national gold medal in the 600m this year. 

In her final year, James won two gold medals at the 1995-96 nationals in the 4x400m relay and 600m. Once again, a first team all-Canadian, James was named the AUAA Athlete of the Year and was a finalist for the Canadian University Athlete of the Year to cap off her career at Dal. James graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1996.