ERME Valley Harriers’ Will Battershill made Harvard University’s all-time best list for the 3,000m steeplechase at the weekend.

Competing for the combined Harvard and Yale side against Oxford and Cambridge universities in Massachusetts, Battershill clocked 9:06.96.

That ranks him sixth on Harvard’s all-time best list and is the university’s fastest outing at that event for 17 years.

However, Battershill, competing at the distance for only the third time, had to settle for second place in the race. In a tremendous battle the Devon teenager lost out on winning by four hundredths of the second, with fellow Brit Alex Howard, from Oxford University, taking the honours in 9:06.92.

Howard was runner-up last year in the 3,000m steeplechase at the England Under-23 Championships, while Battershill took the national under-20 title.

Both athletes have moved into the UK’s top 10 of the early senior men’s rankings for the event, with Battershill the top under-20.

Also in America, Battershill’s Erme Valley Harriers’ team-mate Sam Trigg finished fourth in the Sun Angel Track Classic in Arizona with a best leap of 15.25m.

Closer to home, City of Plymouth’s Jonathan Edwards produced a season’s best performance in the hammer at the Newquay & Par Spring Warm-up Open.

Wales international Edwards threw 61.75m to take victory.

His team-mate Clare Taylor won the women’s hammer with a throw of 33.61m and took second in the shot with 8.90m.

Promising City of Plymouth youngster Noah Jones, 12, jumped 2.40m in the pole vault, threw 26.81m in the javelin and achieved 1.25m in the high jump.

Tavistock athlete Michael Barton was first under-17 and third overall in the rare 1,200m event. He clocked 3:40.1 minutes.