Olympic 4x400m relay bronze medallist Shereefa Lloyd opened her outdoor season at the weekend at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tennessee when she timed 52.40 seconds for second place.

American DeeDee Trotter won the race in 51.73 seconds, with Jamaica’s most decorated sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown, also opening her outdoor season, third in a personal best 52.77 seconds.

The 25-year-old Lloyd finished fourth at the National Championships in the last two years and has been doing speed work to improve on her finish.

She is sharpening up for Shericka Williams and Novlene Williams-Mills, who usually dominate the one-lap event, with eyes on former national champion Rosemarie Whyte, who has been settling in.

Whyte clocked a season-best 52.19 seconds at the UWI Invitational in February.

Also at Sea Ray Relays was Dexter Lee, a World Youth Championship and World Junior Championship gold medallist, who finished third in the 100m in 10.52 seconds after Americans Evander Wells (10.41sec) and Rubin Williams (10.43sec).

Lee, 19, won heat two of the 200m in a wind-aided (2.9m/s) 20.96 seconds. Wells and Williams were first and second in heat one of the 200m, clocking 20.45sec and 20.82sec, respectively, and assisted by a 3.2m/s wind.

Tammilee Kerr won the heptathlon at the Sea Ray, winning with 5,447 points, ahead of Americans Uhunoma Osazuwa, 5,378 points, and Kettiany Clarke, 5,258 points.

Jamaica’s leading sprint hurdler this season, Natasha Ruddock, who ran a personal best 12.97 seconds on April 3 at the Texas Relays, finished second in her pet event, 100m hurdles, at the Oregon Pepsi Invitational on Saturday.

Ruddock, a 20-year-old junior at Texas A&M, recorded 13.12 seconds for second place, as her schoolmate Gabby Mayo won in 13.10 seconds.

Ruddock’s PB has put on her on number three on the Texas A&M all-time list.