CITY of Plymouth cross country internationals Poppy Tank and Victoria Weir have both impressed in America this week.

Tank, running for Utah University, claimed a fifth-placed finish at the Born Collegiate Cross Country Challenge at Craig Ranch Regional Park at the weekend.

She clocked a quick 19:58.1 minutes for the 6k cross country race and was only 14 seconds behind Stanford star Ella Donaghu, who won the race.

Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said:  “Poppy was almost 20 seconds faster than when we ran this same course 18 days ago so that tells you about where she’s at in her fitness.

“She ran a great race and was leading until about the final 800 metres or so before the reigning Pac-12 champion and her team-mate edged her out.”

Meanwhile, fellow Great Britain international Weir made her mark for Portland University at the West Coast Conference Cross Country Championships in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Weir finished sixth in a strong race in a PB time of 20:32.9 to claim a spot on the All-WCC women’s first team.

The City of Plymouth athlete was Portland’s second scorer behind race winner Anna Pataki (19:56.0) as their team claimed second place overall.

Weir has been in good form in America and earlier this month finished seventh at the Oregon Cross Country Open.

Tank and Weir have also been joined in States by club colleague Emily Bee, who is now studying at Youngstown University.

Multi-eventer Bee has made two indoor appearances so far for her new university, clocking 9.03 seconds for the women’s 60m hurdles, leaping 1.61m in the high jump ad 5.45m in the long jump.