Danny Talbot and Eilidh Child were among the points for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team on the opening day of the European Team Championships in Braunschweig.
The pair finished second in their respective races, with four other top-three finishes on the first day leaving a young and developing team in fourth-place overnight with 158.5 points, and just 2.5 points adrift of France in third and behind hosts Germany (188) and Russia (192).
Box-based Talbot, who ran a 9.0 anchor leg in the heats of the World Relays last month, finished second to Jimmy Vicaut in the 100m. The Frenchman drove to victory in 10.03secs, with Talbot a clear second in 10.30, securing 11 points.
"In my head I was aiming at points," said Talbot, who was aware of the task of facing Vicaut in the Frenchman's primary event.
"Obviously you want to go out there and win every race. Vicaut has been running nine seconds this season and just ran 10.03 in not the best conditions.
"Everything is aimed at the Sainsbury's British Championships next week. Hopefully we can go out there and put on a show for the fans. I'm expecting quick times in the 100 and 200 for everyone," added Talbot, who is the top-ranked 200m runner domestically in 2014 with a 20.36 clocking.
Last year's winner Child, coached at the University of Bath by Malcolm Arnold, was hoping to claim a full quota of points in the 400m hurdles again. However, Ukraine's Hanna Ryzhykova had the better momentum coming off the final hurdle, and overturned last year's result to win in 55.00 to Child's 55.36.
"I'm a bit gutted I didn't win it," admitted Child, who had the fastest season's best on paper at 54.82.
"I've not had a great week coming into this competition; I've had a bit of a cold and not really trained. I was thinking I either come in today and I feel really fresh and run well or I'll feel quite sluggish. I just felt sluggish out there."
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
