Students navigate to national rogaining championship

Three friends from Charles Darwin University will represent the Northern Territory in a 24-hour long distance cross-country navigation competition in New South Wales.

Biomedical science student April Payne, pharmacy student Caitlin Chisholm and clinical science student Nirali Patel will use some of the survival skills they learned in their courses at CDU during the 2015 Intervarsity Championships.

April said the trio would draw from course units where they learned about body fluid absorption, temperature balance and sterilisation techniques as they competed at Capertee National Park, NSW.

“It will be good to take a break from studying and go outdoors and get active,” she said.

“You always get to see different parts of the country during competitions.”

The students received a Nigel Aylott Memorial Sports Foundation scholarship to take part in the competition after competing at the recent “Rossi’s Granite, Grass and Gravity” rogaining challenge 100km south of Darwin.

April said rogaining participants received a map showing “control points” and a sheet explaining the terrain, which they would use to select which points they wanted to collect by finding the “control” marker in the bush. Then, participants would use a compass to navigate to the selected control areas.

“The best part about an event is when you’re looking for the control and can’t find it but then, all of a sudden, you see it in the distance and you feel renewed,” she said.

“You also have to return to the base by a certain time or you lose points for every minute you are late.”

The students were selected by the NT Rogaining Association for the scholarship to take part in the competition, which is organised by the Australian Rogaining Association, from Saturday, 10 October.