A 9:20 p.m. cross country race? … George Varvas, Woodbridge High School’s  (Irvine, Ca.)  successful and creative coach created a mammoth invitational each fall with teams competing from many of the western states.  To counter the heat-related problems to the early September race he began races at 7:15 a.m. with a break between noon and 4 p.m. In 2006 Christine Babcock, Woodbridge’s two-time defending state 1600-meter champion, had to wait until 9:20 p.m. to compete in the marquee race. The result: Babcock won and narrowly missed the prestigious meet record by one second.
–“Cross country,” by Miguel A. Melendez, Orange County Register, 2006

    A football/cross country game/meet …We’ve heard of this, but never read about it in a national publication-Runner’s World. The first cross country meet of the year for Indiana’s Center Grove and Perry Meridian high schools was at halftime of the respective school’s football game complete with band, and cheerleaders. The runners started on the track, continued outside the stadium, and returned to finish in front of the 5,000 spectators-a forever moment for those young runners and great publicity for the sport.
“Friday Night Lights” by Richetta Coelho, Runner’s World, December, 2005