By Tommy Campbell, Irish Independent, Evening Herald, Sunday Independent
Who said that sport at third level and study don't go hand in hand? Well during the week at the Inter Varsities Championships staged in IT Sligo, the turnout was excellent.
Among the competitors was a team from University College Dublin led by Andrew McQuaid of the McQuaid dynasty. Andrew was awarded a club scholarship and the UCD Department of Sport also made a contribution. His family has been in the sport for many years, and Andrew's dad Patrick is a candidate to be the next president of the UCI when Hein Verbruggen steps down in September.
In the mountain bike Inter Varsities, which were held in Crag Woods, Killaloe, last week and organised by the University of Limerick, University College Dublin finished 1st (Philip Roche), 2nd (Yvain Sogno, France) and 3rd (Cathal D'Arcy).
During the week, the road discipline was held and Andrew retained his road title, but in the test against the clock, he could no better than 5th, but still finished second overall behind Eoin Whelan from the National University of Ireland with Mark Quigley who organised the championships in Sligo third.
"I think that students can acquit themselves to sport whilst studying. The bike was a way of getting rid of the cobwebs. The fact that UCD grant aided me was a bonus," said Andrew, as he wound up the conversation before putting his head back in the books for the tests that will be held next month.
