Aileen Morrison of the North West Triathlon Club and a member of Triathlon Ireland's High Performance squad finished 5th on Saturday in the Waterways Ireland European Triathlon Championships in Athlone. Morrison had a strong swim, exiting the water in second position. This placed her nicely in the lead cycle pack of 17 where she and fellow TI elite athlete Emma Davis worked well to keep the pace up throughout the bike leg.
Proving herself to be a serious contender for the 2012 London Olympics, Morrison produced a strong run performance and surprised many more experienced athletes who finished behind the Derry girl. During her post race interview, she broke into tears, thanking the Irish crowd for their support.
In the Age Group Sprint event held earlier that day five other members of the North West were in action with two of the men getting into the top ten in their respective age groups. Paul McConnellogue raced consistently from start to finish to cross the line in 7th position in the M40-44 age category. He put in a time of 1hr 9mins while Jarlath Fearon finished strong on the run to clock 1.11.46 putting him 9th in the M45-49 age group. Frankie Dunlop also stayed consistent throughout his race to finish in 13th spot in M50-54 category in 1.15.23. Joe Doherty's continued good form saw him race strong in the M30-34 category clocking a 1.10.34 which was good enough for 19th position while Aoife Logan put in a good swim in the F30-34 race to finish in 23rd spot in 1.26.03.
On Sunday, Mickey McBride competed in the M40-44 Age Group Olympic event while Patrick McLaughlin raced in the M30-34 Open Olympic event. McBride put in a strong bike to cross the line in 24th position in a time of 2.23.13. McLaughlin performed well in the run up to his next Ironman race to come 16th in his category in 2.35.32 An all round great performance from the club competing against some of the best in Ireland and Europe.
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