Erin Friel storms to first national gold at Juvenile Indoor Championships

Letterkenny AC's Erin Friel scorched her way to her first national gold on Saturday.

At the National Juvenile Indoor Championships, held at the TUS in Athlone, Friel won gold in the Under-17 400m.

Friel, whose graph has been considerably upwards in recent years, was an impressive winner over two laps of the Midlands track.

Friel burst for home in 57.85 seconds.

Freja O'Carroll from Raheny Shamrocks left with silver, going 58.28 seconds with Nenagh Olympic's Anna Paxman third in 58.83 seconds.

Friel came through her heat in 59.22 seconds, the lead runner in her group, and the Kathryn McDevitt-trained athlete upped the ante when it mattered.

Friel, a student at Loreto Secondary School, has been consistently improving her numbers and now has that precious, priceless gold nugget.

Friel was the only Donegal gold medal winner on day two of the National Juvenile Indoors.

Tir Chonaill AC's Ethan Dewhirst finished in 51.19 seconds for silver in the Under-18 400m.

There was silver, too, for Finn Valley AC's Aoibhinn McElhinney, who got over the bar at 1.53m to finish second in the Under-15 high jump while Rosses AC's Katelynn O'Donnell threw to 8.60m for silver in the Under-12 shot.

Cranford AC star Caolan McFadden had to settle for bronze in the Under-18 1500m final. McFadden clocked 4:01.95 to finish third.

Adam Breen of Finn Valley AC won two bronzes. Breen was third in the Under-12 long jump, going out to 4.29m while a new PB of 8.50 seconds secured bronze in the 60m sprint.

Jasmine Barrett-Doherty, who won high jump gold on day one of these Championships a fortnight ago, won bronze in the U13 long jump, getting out to 4.34m with her club-mate Caoimhe McElhinney sixth in the same event.

Milford AC's Tiernan Kerr bagged a bronze from the Under-14 1000m walk. Kerr completed his race in 6:02.68.

There were some near misses with Nina Nwanko of Letterkenny AC judged edged out of the medals in the Under-14 high jump, finishing fourth.

Katie Louise McMonagle from Finn Valley AC was fourth in the Under-17 long jump, while Letterkenny AC pair Daragh Naughton and Harry McIlwaine were fourth in the Under-16 1500m and 60m.

Tir Chonaill AC's Ellen James was fourth in the Under-14 60m, Clodagh Gallagher from Letterkenny AC was fourth in the Under-15 high jump and Michael Logue of Rosses came fourth in the Under-15 shot with Odhran McBrearty from Finn Valley sixth in the Under-17 1500m final.