Ferrybank athlete Kelly Proper proudly displays her medals as she took her total of senior indoor titles to 19 by winning the long jump, 60m and 200m at the National Indoor Championships in Athlone last weekend. | Photo : Pat Murphy / Sportsfile

Extending her record-breaking haul of national indoor golds to 19, Kelly leapt to victory in the long jump, an event she has dominated since 2006, with a 6.22 metre jump securing top spot on the podium.

However, Kelly’s brace of track wins were particularly notable thanks to the new personal bests she set in both, with her 200 metre win propelling her to the top of this year’s European rankings.

First up on Sunday was a 60m heat in which Kelly came in second, just a hundredth of second behind leading qualifier Ciara Neville (Emerald AC) in 7.45 seconds.

But the final was all about the Ferrybank and Ireland athlete who fleeted out of the blocks to win in 7.38 seconds, a considerable improvement on her previous best over the distance.

Forty minutes later, Kelly was in the blocks again in a 200 m final for which no heats were held. And what a performance she produced to claim her third gold of the weekend, completing the circuit in a new personal best of 23.27 seconds, the fastest time in Europe this year and the second fastest run ever by an Irish woman over the distance.

She missed out on achieving the World (outdoor) Championship standard by just .07 of a second, and given her current form will feel she can lower her new PB even further in order to secure a seat on the flight to Beijing come August next.

Meanwhile, Paul Murphy (Ferrybank AC) had a fine run in the 400m final, finishing second with a personal best time of 47.62 seconds.

The race was won by Dara Kervick (a second cousin of Kelly Proper’s) in 45.63 in the colours of Clonliffe Harriers, whom until recently had run for Carrick-on-Suir AC.

Three local athletes also collected bronze medals, namely outgoing 800 metres champion Niall Tuohy who, in a most competitive final ran well eventually finishing third in 1:52.35.

The Ferrybank AC man finished behind two of Ireland’s best 800 metres runners, Mark English who won in 1.51.34, with Declan Murray in second.

Brother and sister Thomas and Lisa Houlihan (West Waterford) both had good results in the pole vault collecting bronze medals; Thomas achieving 4.60 metres while Lisa vaulted 2.90 metres.

Kevin Cooper (Ferrybank) finished sixth in the 3000m final while Seán Curran (West Waterford) was seventh in his 1500m heat.

But the weekend belonged to Kelly Proper, whose form keeps getting better and better!

Pic1: Neasa Murphy of Dunhill and a member of Ferrybank A.C. was announced the Supreme Juvenile Athlete of the Year 2014 Award Winner, sponsored by the Combined Credit Unions. Pictured from left: Robert Grace, Waterford Credit Union; Pat Murphy, St. Dominic Credit Union; Supreme Juvenile Athlete Neasa Murphy, Ferrybank A.C.; Mayor of the City and County of Waterford, Cllr. James Tobin; Olympian David Gillick and Mary O' Mahony, Lisduggan Credit Union.

Other winners from the area were West Waterford’s Thomas Houlihan representing CIT and his sister Lisa who both won pole vault titles while Sean Archer was third in the triple jump as was Eimear Hayes in the 400 metres both WIT. Competing as a guest at the meeting Kelly Proper had two victories in the long jump with 6.31 metres and the 60 metres in a personal best time of 7.41 seconds, In this event she had two very prominent sprinters Amy Foster and Phil Healy behind her. In Ghent in Belgium on Saturday last Niall Tuohy won an 800 metres indoor race in 1 minute 50.98 seconds and in Kingston Rhode Island on Saturday Shane Quinn was third in a mile race in 4 minutes 13.66 seconds and on the winning Providence College Distance Relay team.

Pole Vault wins

West Waterford AC athletes did well on Saturday last in Nenagh at the Munster juvenile indoor pole vault championships.

Two athletes won titles Séamie Fennell under 18 and Sam O’Neill under 15, Aoife Lai and Cathy Metcalfe tied for second place in the under 16 grade and there were third medals for Craig Clune u16 and Victoria O’Hara u15.

9th annual Anne Valley 5 Miles a great success.

420 faced starter Jim Harney in Dunhill on Saturday last in the 9th annual Anne Valley 5 Miles road race and Trevor Power was the very comfortable winner in a time of 26 minutes 35 seconds, Noel Murphy, a native of the Dunhill area, was second in 27.11 and Frank Quinlan third in 27.32, all three from Waterford AC.

Órna Murray Ferrybank AC was first lady home again winning very easily in 30 minutes 27 seconds, Maebh Savage was second in 32.51 and Diane Behan third in 34.08 both Waterford AC. The category winners were as follows;

Men O40 John Dillon Tinryland, 0 45 Pat Bookle St Joseph’s, 050 Brendan Dunne Carrick on Suir, 055 Walter Keane Waterford, 0 60 Jim O’Connor Waterford, 0 65 Eddie Walsh. Junior Jamie Murphy.

Women 035 Joan Mahony Waterford, 040 Aisling Ferguson, 045 Jacinta Brazil Waterford, 050 Phillipa Carney Tramore, 055 Una Ui Mhuirithe, 0 60 Terri Gough West Waterford Junior Órla Queally Ferrybank.

The juvenile under 14 race winners were; Boys1 Mark O’Dwyer, 2 Tom Halley 3 Mark Shanahan. Girls 1 Grace O’Neill 2 Jessica Flynn 3 Sarah Jackman. The event was well organised with lots of stewards all around the course, lots of volunteers from local clubs and assistance from The Coast Guard and Order of Malta. The proceeds go to the Jack and Jill Foundation.

Overseas

Kelly Proper competes in the British AAA Indoor Championships on Sunday in Sheffield in the long jump. Niall Tuohy is in Vienna for an 800 metres Indoor race and a large group of Ferrybank under age athletes travel to Scotland for the Scottish Juvenile Indoor Championships on Saturday and Sunday.

Munster Schools Cross Country Finals

The GloHealth Munster Schools Cross-Country Championships will take place in Cork IT on this Thursday 12th February starting at 12.30 pm.

Many athletes from Waterford secondary schools will be competing.

Kilmacthomas 5 Miles

At 11 am on Sunday next February 15th the 13th annual Bausch and Lomb sponsored Kilmacthomas 5 mile road race will take place. This is race number 3 in the Michael Roche Carpets Series. Entries will be taken at the Community Hall, Kilmacthomas at the top of the town. The entry fee is €8. Proceeds to Waterford Hospice.

Mt Juliet Road Races

This coming Saturday February 14th the annual Half Marathon and 10K road races are in Mt Juliet starting at 11 am. See website for all details.