Armstrong and Chapman to lead the University at 2024 UniNationals

6 September 2024; by Mrinal Asija

Hannah Rose Armstrong (Doctor of Medicine) and Harrison Chapman (Bachelor of Commerce) will be leading a contingent of 212 students and representing the University of Melbourne at the 2024 UniSport Nationals.

This edition of UniNationals, which is the pre-eminent event on Australia’s university sport calendar, is set to be held in Canberra from 7 to 13 September. The week will see over 6,000 student-athletes from universities across the country participate in 31 sporting disciplines.

Both Hannah and Harrison have not only displayed exceptional sporting achievement but also an unwavering commitment to their academic performance during their time at the University, making them the ideal candidates to be the leaders of the University’s Winged Victory team.

Hannah, a cyclist, was the captain of the dominant Melbourne cycling team that won the Female Cycling Pennant at last year’s UniNationals. This will be her third year representing the University in the sport, having won a gold medal in the criterium in her first outing in 2022. A multi-talented athlete, Hannah also has a UniNationals gold in Women’s Australian Rules Football that came in 2019 while she was a Bachelor of Science student.

Hannah’s cycling achievements are made more significant by the fact that she only started the sport post the Covid-19 pandemic, when the restrictions limited her access to surf boat rowing, a sport she had won the Victorian state title in for two consecutive years. “My time spent rowing made my transition to cycling smooth, and I found cyclocross racing combined technical skills and endurance with a fun, albeit muddy environment, which I liked,” she said about her move to cycling.

Barely a few months into road cycling, she covered 900 kms from Canberra to Melbourne in nine days to raise funds for Rare Ovarian Cancer Inc and won the Victorian Expert Female State Championships after her first full season of cyclocross racing in 2022.

While Hannah attended Newman College during her undergraduate studies, she spent two years as a regional student after being accepted into the Doctor of Medicine program. Her placements in Shepparton, Cobram and other rural locations in Northeastern Victoria provided the perfect setting for cycling. Hannah is now two months away from finishing her dual postgraduate studies in Medicine and Public Health, and credits the University’s Elite Athlete Program for making her long journey as a student-athlete a successful one.

Hannah’s next step would be an internship at Royal Melbourne Hospital next year, but for now she is thrilled to be leading the University in Canberra and termed the opportunity to be the captain an honour.

Just like Hannah, Harrison too is approaching the end of his University program and has exciting professional opportunities lined up. Majoring in accounting and management, he undertook an internship at Deloitte and a research placement at Ernst & Young (EY). With his exceptional performance as a BCom student, Harrison has now secured a Graduate position at PWC Tax & Legal in employment taxes. That’s three of the “Big Four” ticked off!

While these achievements are a matter of pride for a student by themselves, Harrison has been able to add them to his resume while being an equally successful athlete at the same time. The sailor is a two-time winner of the 420 Australian Championships and a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

In 2021, Harrison was named the Youth Sailor of the Year at both state and national levels. During his time at University, he has been supported by the Elite Athlete Program and was honoured to be awarded a Half Blue for Sailing in 2022. In his final year now, he is delighted to have been named the captain of the UniNationals team. “I couldn’t believe that I had been selected as men’s captain. I feel honoured to lead such a competitive team going to Canberra,” he remarked on the announcement.

After finishing third at his first UniNationals, Harrison progressed to the second place in 2023. It is only natural that he will be going for gold this year and the team will take a lot of confidence from the win at 2024 University Sailing Victorian Championships.

It's not just Hannah and Harrison who are gearing up for the biggest intervarsity tournament of the year. Athletes from 18 different sporting teams, as seen below, are preparing to face off against some tough competition in the nation's capital.

The University wishes the captains and student-athletes the very best!