On a weekend that saw Mark English end a six-month lay-off with gold in the 800m, there was joy also for Karl Griffin, Sommer Lecky, John Kelly and Geraldine Stewart at the National Senior Indoor Championships.
English had no ran competitively since the World Championships in August, but the Letterkenny man kicked well to win the 800m at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena.
English won in a time of 1:53.54 to take the top prize from Donegal town man Griffin, who was in second.
The UCD AC pair completed a one-two in the final.
English will now compete in an International 800m midweek in Athlone.
Really happy with the wheels over the last 200m today and to take home the title for UCD. Sets things up nicely going into the @AthloneIT International 800m on Wens!
— Mark English (@markenglish_) February 18, 2018
Kelly set a new Donegal record and pb in the shot put when he reached out to 17.53m. The St Johnston man and Finn Valley AC athlete went in as the defending champion, but even his record-breaking exploits weren’t enough to topple Sean Breathnach.
The returning Breathnach threw a whopping 18.30m for a new Irish record.
The ever-reliable and steadily-improving Lecky continued her good form as she retained the high jump title. The Finn Valley AC woman successfully navigated 1.84m to take the gold and just missed out on a record 1.87m.
Geraldine Stewart of Tir Chonaill AC collected bronze in the women’s shot.
