Irish student championships in Sligo

By Tommy Campbell

Mention the town of Sligo and cycling in tandem and the answer you invariably get is Mark Scanlon. The 1998 Junior World Champion hails from the town and thanks to Mark's exploits the sport of cycling is a high priority here in Sligo. It will be further enhanced when the third level students come here for their championships on Wednesday (13 of April).

In the last two years the Irish Road Race Championship was held locally and now the third level students [college, university and similar - Ed] will leave their mark in a town which first came to prominence with the de Burgo invasion back in 1235.

Mark Quigley, the organiser of the Third Level Irish Championships in time trialling and road racing, is hoping for an invasion of students.

"It has been a difficult couple of months getting everything in place for these championships which will be staged this coming Wednesday. The logistics of putting on such an event and keeping up the studies were to say the least difficult," said Quigley.

"The Sligo Institute of Technology are fully behind the venture and hopefully we will have a good day.

"Naturally as a competitor I didn't understand what goes on in putting on an event. Well! I have had a good induction and I just would like to thank all, particularly the competitors who will be here on Wednesday morning," he added.