CITY of Plymouth athlete Emily Bee opened her outdoor season in style by smashing a personal best and setting a new university record in America at the weekend.

Bee stormed to victory in the women’s 100m hurdles for Youngstown University at the Tennessee Invitational meeting in Knoxville in a time of 13.60 seconds.

That took more than half-a-second of her previous legal PB and moves her straight into second place in the early UK rankings. It also broke Youngstown’s school record that had stood since 2018.

Bee, who has struggled with injuries over the last few years, showed she was back in top form by clocking a wind-assisted 13.85 seconds in her heat at Knoxville. However, in the final she upped her performance even more and ran away from the rest of the field.

Also at the Tennessee meeting, she ran 25.88 seconds for the 200m and leaped 1.50m in the high jump in windy conditions. She has jumped 1.61m so far this year, but that was indoors.

Bee will now be excited for the rest of the outdoor season.

Meanwhile, the Armada Summer 5k Series gets underway for 2025 on Wednesday night (April 9) at Saltram House.

Full details on the series, can be found HERE