The adventure race tested and bonded the eight SAS students Lauren Hemsworth, Anna Smith, Alicia Congram, Charlie Guerit, Sam Woods, Pat Devlin, Rohan Kerr and James Baccarini as they took part in three days of events.

They were assisted by an invaluable support crew of Jacob Monte, who photographed, organised, moved gear, encouraged, set up transitions and navigated.

The team was generously sponsored by OPSM - Cameron’s Optometry.

Challenge Day saw team members suspended 15m in the air, traversing rafts, performing first aid scenarios and setting up a survival camp.

The eight-hour rogaine (cross country navigation) proved to be the team’s biggest improvement from state level – placing equal third after finding 15 out of the 17 checkpoints.

Their environment project featuring our local beaches submitted before the event gained fourth place.

The multi-sport race was the toughest challenge - 10km mountain bike, 12km run and 2km raft.

Injuries forced the team to make a tough decision regarding dropping members or slowing down.

While many schools dropped a team member or three, SAS showed true team spirit by staying together on the steep course.

The scorers rewarded them for this and on reflection the team saw finishing together as the main highlight of the event.

Throughout the challenges the students showed perseverance, ingenuity, resilience, leadership, humility and teamwork, embodying many of the qualities of Edmund Hillary himself.

Thank you to Shoalhaven Anglican School, the Milton Ulladulla ExServos Club and Craig Cameron and his team at OPSM for their support of the students in this event.