Montana State biomechanics students provide testing for para Nordic athletes

In a laboratory in Montana State University's Harrison Hall, biomechanics graduate student Isaac Burgess counts down from three before pressing a button to bring a large treadmill to a stop.

Ty Wiberg, a sophomore studying community health who is a para Nordic skiing athlete with the nearby Crosscut Mountain Sports Center team, had been double-poling – moving his two skiing poles in a parallel motion at the same time – to ski on the treadmill. Now, he slows his double-poling to mirror the speed of the treadmill. When it comes to a stop, Dr. Geoff Burns, a physiologist with the U.S. Olympic and...