Silver medals for Brendan Boyce and John Kelly at National Indoors

Brendan Boyce and John Kelly won silver medals on day one of the National Indoor Athletics Championships.

Boyce claimed silver in the 5k race walk with Kelly bagging second spot in the shot put.

The Finn Valley AC pair were Donegal's medal winners on an opening that saw Mark English cruise to the 800m final and Tir Chonaill AC's Lucy McGlynn competed in two finals.

Boyce is a long-distance specialist, but the three-time Olympian dipped below 20 minutes in the 5k for only the second time.

Boyce's 19:39.60 is a new Ulster and Donegal record as well as a personal best.

David Kenny won in 19:11.42 with Callum Lewis Wilkinson, who represented GB at the Tokyo Olympics, third in the colours of Togher AC.

Kelly, back home from Sweden to compete, was the shot put silver medallist, his 19.19m only bettered by the 19.26m of Irish record holder Eric Favors while Gavin McLaughlin was fourth.

Kelly and Favors have built up quite the rivalry in the shot put circle and both competed at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Finn Valley's Gavin McLaughlin was fourth in the shot.

McGlynn was fourth in the 200m and fifth in the 60m hurdles.

Over the barriers, McGlynn finished in 8.79 seconds with Sarah Lavin powering to gold in 8.03 seconds.

In the 200m, her first final of the day, McGlynn – who qualified as the fastest runner-up – crossed the line in 25.5 seconds out of lane one.

It's a big week for the Colaiste Cholmcille student, who has just finished her Leaving Cert mocks. On Wednesday night, she goes in the 2x200m relay at the Dynamic New Athletics Under-20 meeting in Madrid.

English eased his way into Sunday's 800m final. The Finn Valley man is in search of his ninth Irish indoor crown and a fuss free heat saw him safely through.

A look over the shoulder on the home straight saw English, a four-time European medallist, win his heat in 1:52.89.

The Letterkenny man goes in Sunday's 800m final two weeks out from the European Indoor Championships in Turkey.

Bridget McDyer of Finn Valley AC narrowly missed the podium in the weight for distance. McDyer looked to be on course for bronze thanks to a 6.37m throw on her second attempt, but was edged by Ciara Sheehy's 6.43m.

Finn Valley AC race walker Sinead McConnell set her second fastest ever time in the 3k race walk, going 15:51.7 to finish an encouraging fourth ahead of the World Masters next month in Poland.

The 12:40.4 of Kate Veale, an impressive winner, is a world lead time for 2023.

Cranford AC's Oisin Kelly was fourth in an 800m heat and third in his 400m heat while Letterkenny AC's John McCallion was 17th in the 3,000m final.

Tir Chonaill AC's European Under-18 400m hurdles silver medallist Fintan Dewhirst was unable to go under starter's orders due to a hamstring niggle.