Madeline Czeck, graduate student in the School of Kinesiology, is the lead author of the article, “Total and Regional Body Composition of NCAA Division I Collegiate Female Softball Athletes,” in the International Journal of Sports Medicine.

The publication compared NCAA Division I female softball players’ throwing arm body composition to their non-throwing arm. Four major positions were tested, including pitching and outfielding, using Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). The study discovered that the throwing arm had significantly greater lean mass, bone mineral density, and bone mineral content than the non-throwing arm. A primary difference found was pitchers had larger total and regional fat values than outfielders.

Donald R. Dengel, PhD, professor and director of the Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology, and Christiana Raymond-Pope, PhD and Tyler Bosch, PhD, graduates from the School, also co-authored the article.