ERME Valley Harriers’ Will Battershill produced a strong performance at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Hungary in mid-week.
The newly-crowned British champion finished seventh in a strong men’s 3,000m steeplechase event.
He clocked 8:24.37, which was just one second off his PB, to finish as the second European athlete in an 18-strong race, which was won by Morocco’s Mohamed Tindouft.
Battershill still has his eyes on the UK World Championship standard of 8:18.50.
He is due to be in action again on Friday night at the Diamond League event in Monaco.
Fellow British steeplechase champion Poppy Tank is also due to be in Diamond League action this weekend. She is among the entries for the London Athletics Meet on Sunday, where a crowd of around 50,000 is expected.
Meanwhile, Tank’s City of Plymouth team-mate Ethan Glyde retained the French national junior title last weekend in terrible weather in Chateauroux. He beat his big rival, and jointly ranked world under-18 number one, Elijah Pasquier.
Glyde has been named in the Team England squad for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago and he will fly out on August 1.
Elsewhere, there were some eye-catching performances at the South West League meeting in Exeter on Sunday.
City of Plymouth’s Henry Curtis, back from university, clocked a quick time of 14.37 seconds to win the under-20 110m hurdles. He is currently ranked eighth in the UK at that event.
He also was first under-20 and second overall in the 100m flat in a time of 11.20 seconds.
Toby Clayden, also back for the summer from university, won the men’s 110m hurdles in 15.95 seconds, while fellow Plymouth athlete Leonie Dyer triumphed in the under-15 girls’ 75m hurdles in 12.16 seconds.
Club team-mate Joss Nicholls won the under-17 boys’ 100m in a wind-assisted PB time of 11.33 seconds, with Tavistock’s Rory Summers third in 11.44.
Summers did win the under-17 400m in 51.74, while his club colleague Joe Wheeler was second under-20 and third overall in 51.46.
Tavistock’s Emma Ryder set a new PB to win the women’s 1,500m by 10 seconds. She clocked 4:38.06.
City of Plymouth’s Elsie Goodspeed finished third in a strong under-13 girls’ 1,500m in 5:13.90, while there was a new PB for Tavistock under-15 athlete Caleb Gifford-Groves, who clocked 4:29.40.
Tavistock’s Josh Tyler claimed two PBs at Exeter. He won the discus with 40.83m and also the hammer with 40.87m.
Team-mate Tegan Brown, who recently won the English Schools’ junior girls’ title, eased to victory in the under-15 girls’ hammer with 43.16m. Fellow Tavistock athletes Charlotte and Isabelle Doney were second and third.
Full results can be found HERE.