Date of Award

4-2017

Document Type

Distinction Paper

Department

Health & Sport Sciences

Advisor

Shelley Payne

First Committee Member

Joan Rocks

Second Committee Member

Steffanie Burk

Keywords

Running-related Injury, Collegiate Cross Country Athletes, Injury Pre-Screening, Step Frequency

Subject Categories

Rehabilitation and Therapy | Sports Sciences | Therapeutics

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between step frequency, the Running Readiness Scale, and Running-Related Injury rate among the Otterbein cross-country team during the Fall 2016 season. Step frequencies were calculated for each athlete at a preferred and pre-determined pace. As a part of the running Readiness Scale assessment, each athlete completed a series of screening tasks to assess body alignment, weight distribution, and muscular endurance. Each participant logged their running and injury history throughout the season using the Otterbein Run Tracker app. The researchers hypothesized that higher step frequencies and Running Readiness Scale pass rates would correlate with lower injury rates. The aim of this study was to evaluate potential screening methods that may be useful for Running-Related Injury prediction and prevention. The results of the study did no show a significant difference between the preferred and test cadences for the injured and non-injured athletes, nor did they show a significant difference between the Running Readiness Scale assessment for each group. The application of this study to a larger population of collegiate cross-county runners is needed to assess whether step frequency and the Running Readiness Scale can be used to predict injury in collegiate cross-country athletes.

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