## 1 Introduction  
For coaches and training staff to develop efficient and effective practices and training programs, it is useful to understand the physical activity levels for their competitions. In this context, field hockey is an open-skill team-based game that consists of intermittent bursts of high-intensity running followed by periods of low-intensity running [1; 2; 3]. Physical activity profiles are known to vary across player positions [2; 4; 5; 6]. Most research has focused on international levels of play [7; 8; 9]. Within the last ten years, advances in global positioning system (GPS) technology have allowed for accurate distance monitoring of players during games [10; 11], and rule changes have been implemented first at the international level and, more recently, at other levels that impact the timing of the game. Field hockey is played with ten field players and one goalie. Field players typically are delineated as forwards, midfielders and defenders, often with 3-4 of each on the field at one time, varying by team formation. The International Federation of Hockey (FIH) governs and regulates the sport of field hockey. Current FIH rules state matches are four 15 min quarters, with 2 min separating quarters 1 and 2 and quarters 3 and 4, and a 5-min halftime between quarters 2 and 3 [12]. The game clock stops between the time a penalty corner has been awarded and the start of the penalty corner. Prior to 2015, FIH tournament regulation rules stated matches were two 35 min halves with a 10-min halftime and a continuous game clock [13]. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governs and regulates collegiate sports in the United States of America. The NCAA, in some cases, modifies rules for sports in comparison to international or professional rules. Collegiate field hockey follows FIH rules with some modifications. Prior to the 2019-2020 season, all collegiate matches were played with two 35 min halves and a 10-min halftime with a continuous clock [14]. For the 2019-2020 season, this modification was removed, and matches were played with four 15 min quarters, with 2 min separating quarters 1 and 2 and quarters 3 and 4 and a 10-min halftime between quarters 2 and 3 [15]. Further, the game clock now stops between the awarding of a penalty corner and the start of the penalty corner, but not for a controlled amount of time. The game clock also stops for goals both before and after the rule change, as well as at officially designated times such as those resulting from a player injury. The primary rationale for changing the collegiate match format to four quarters was to resemble all international play. Most studies on elite field hockey players consisted of games with two halves [1; 5; 16; 17]. [PERSON] [1] reported elite women field hockey defenders traveled an average of 6643 \(\pm\) 1618 m, midfielders 6931 \(\pm\) 1882 m, and forwards 6154 \(\pm\) 271 m, though no statistical comparison between those were made. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [17] compared distances between positions and found both defenders (6170 \(\pm\) 977 m) and midfielders (5626 \(\pm\) 787 m) covered a significantly greater distance during a match compared with forwards (4700 \(\pm\) 918 m). In both studies, the distance reported was not relative to the time each player spent on the field. Numerous studies have noted defenders spend more time on the field compared with forwards [3; 17; 18; 19]. [PERSON] et al. standardized relative distance to playing time for female hockey players competing in the England Hockey Premier League, finding defenders (99.77 \(\pm\) 4.36 m\(\cdot\)min\({}^{-1}\)) covered less relative distance than midfielders (117.20 \(\pm\) 4.36 m\(\cdot\)min\({}^{-1}\)) [16]. While showing a similar trend, these values are slightly lower than elite international female field hockey players, where defenders covered an average relative distance of 114 \(\pm\) 7 m\(\cdot\)min\({}^{-1}\), midfielders 129 \(\pm\) 5 m\(\cdot\)min\({}^{-1}\), and forwards 131 \(\pm\) 10 m\(\cdot\)min\({}^{-1}\)[5].