Long jump gold for Lauren Callaghan as John Kelly earns silver at National Indoors

Lauren Callaghan leapt to the Irish senior indoor long jump gold.

The Finn Valley AC woman, the silver medalist 12 months ago, went one better when she grabbed gold on Sunday at the National Indoor Arena.

Callaghan jumped to a best of 5.94m to see off nearest competitor, Laura Frawley of Nenagh Olympic, who jumped to 5.70m.

The Killygordon native put her heels in the sand at 5.94m on her second attempt to take a glorious gold.

Callaghan was also the silver medal winner in the outdoors last year, but a recent 6.16m jump in Loughborough offered real optimism.

Although short of her 6.19m best, Callaghan was still top of the charts this time.

“I would have liked a bit more distance, but I can’t complain,” she said. “It was very close and that makes the competition a wee bit more exciting.

“I had quite a good competition in Loughborough and that was a confidence booster coming in.”

Callaghan returns to action in Glasgow in two weeks’ time before her mind will focus on the outdoor competitions.

The young Callaghan began her athletics journey at Dromore National School.

As a juvenile, she won an U9 gold alongside Daniella Jansen in 2010 and followed up with an U11 gold with Jessica Quigley in 2012.

She won four long jump titles at underage level - but this represents her big breakthrough.

Rosses AC’s Fodhla Nic Phaidin jumped to 5.09m for 13th and Ashleigh McArdle of Lifford-Strabane AC was 19th in the long jump when going to 4.89m

Jonn Kelly took silver in the men’s shot put. The Finn Valley AC man threw out to 17.85m to take the second spot behind winner Eric Favors, who took gold thanks to a 19.40m effort.

Kelly, previously a two-time senior indoor gold medallist, has returned in recent weeks after a spell out of action and recorded 17.97m and 17.23m throws in Sweden before coming home for the nationals.

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The St Johnston man, who competed at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, reached out to 17.85m on his second visit to the circle.