Kelly retains Irish indoor title

FR MURPHY athlete Kieran Kelly returned to Belfast"s Odyssey arena last weekend and displayed blistering form to win the shot putt at the Irish Indoor Championships. The 22-year-old broke his own Irish record as early as the first round when he throw 18.30m and showed that he was really on form when he followed that up with an even better throw of 18.84m. He ended the competition with impressive throws of 18.69m and 18.60m to win the title in fine style, securing top spot well ahead of Sean Breathnach who finished second with an effort of 15.45m. Olympic sprinter Paul Hession ran three rounds of the 60m and improved his time on each run, 6.82, 6.76, and 6.71. However, that his last time was not good enough to win the final as American Josh Norman claimed first place. Kelly lives in England and is a student at Loughborough University, Leicestershire. He is trained by legendry strongman Geoff Capes. Last year in January 2008 Kelly announced himself on the scene when he also set a new Irish record at the two-day Irish Indoor Championships scooped the Meath Chronicle / Cusack Hotels sports personality-of-the-month award for January. In the 2008 championships Kelly also showed the way very early on when he achieved 18.20m with his first throw to set a new Irish record. He went on to take the title ahead of Jamie Stevenson and Breathnach who was third. Kelly, who has relatives in Kildalkey, also finished ahead of Czech Republic Olympic gold medal decathlete Roman Sebrele who finish in fourth position. Among Kelly"s relatives living in the Meath area are granduncles Christy, Noel, Albert and Pat Kelly and their sisters Vera, Lizzie and Angela. Another granduncle, the late Frank Kelly, was widely known figure among the Meath athletic fraternity through his involvement with Fr Murphy AC. He was also involved in setting up a boxing club in Kildalkey and was a noted local historian. Kieran Kelly"s grandfather Kevin Kelly is from Kildalkey and currently lives in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Dunboyne athletes also competed at the Odyssey. Morgan McDonagh was second in his heat in the 800m while Michelle Pilkington was fifth in the shot putt. Tara athlete Michael Doyle took third place in the 5km walk and improved his personal best by 56 seconds. The 40th Dunboyne road race festival will take place on Sunday, 29th March, this will be the last opportunity to run the existing route as road changes will come into effect for next year. For further details on this event log on to www.dunboyneac.com. Meath teams for the All-Ireland Intermediate and Masters cross-country championships at Tymon Park, Dublin on Sunday are: Intermediate ladies - Orla Timmons (Star of the Sea), Aoife Brady, Crona Brady (Sportsworld), Geraldine Gill (Bohermeen), Eva McNeilis (St Andrew"s), Sharon Monaghan (Fr Murphy), Aisling O"Brien (Dunshaughlin), Eileen Rahill (St Brigid"s), Hazel Scorer (Navan), Eileen Thorma (Dunboyne); Masters ladies - Mary Hanley, Maggie Higgins, Brigid Clarke, Ann Marie McCluskey, Margaret Neary (Na Fianna), Lucy Darcy (Sportsworld), Linda Fahy, Ursula Byrne (Dunshaughlin), Mary Watters (Navan), Linda Gunning (Bohermeen), Catherine Dunne (Dunboyne); Intermediate men - Rory McDonnell, Sean Kinnane, Morgan McDonagh, Donal O Mahuna, Michael Cornyn, Robbie Matthews (Dunshaughlin), Mark Hoey (Star of the Sea), Declan Monaghan (Fr Murphy), Derek Croal, Richard Byrne, Dermot Farrelly, Shane Boyle (Bohermeen), Paddy Farrell (Na Fianna).