Havering AC's Zoe Hughes broke one club record and came close to beating two others when placing second for Duke University in the Tobacco Road Challenge & Combined Events competition in stormy conditions at Durham, North Carolina.

A 13.41m shot putt personal best added almost half a metre to her previous club record and Hughes came within a whisker of setting a new club 100m hurdles best, as her 13.71s clocking was just outside Kate Cowley's 13.7 club best from 2004.

Hughes also ran the 200m in 25.35, had a wind-assisted long jump of 6.00m, a 1.64m high jump clearance and 32.60m javelin throw before her 2.25.38 in the 800m saw her total a new PB and UK lead of 5541 points, just 16 points shy of Cowley's club heptathlon record of 5557 set in 2003.

It was her first heptathlon mark since 2017 and added almost 100 points to her previous best.

Meanwhile, Tom Pitkin moved up to third on the club's all-time list and closer to Mark Bishop’s record mark when he posted a new career best of 52.70 for the 400m hurdles to break the Butler University record he had set the week before.

Pitkin’s mark brought him victory at the Redbird Invitational meeting held in very unfavourable windy conditions at Normal, Illinois.

There were tentative steps back to outdoor competition for some club athletes at the Lee Valley and Blackheath Open at the weekend.

In bitterly cold conditions at Lee Valley on Saturday, under-17s Dan Peters and Maddie Barker opened their accounts in the 800m, as did Matthew Blacklock and Natalie Sewell in the 1500m.

Paris King (U17W 100m) and Matthew Agnimel (Senior 200m) also started their 2021 campaigns.

In better conditions on Sunday, Kieran O’Hara, James Stewart and newcomer Richard Morris kicked off their season in the 1500m races in the Blackheath event at Bromley.