STANFORD, Calif. – The 2017 Stanford Cross Country Invitational will not take place because of a scheduling conflict, and will return in 2018.
The meet, which includes college and high school divisions, is among the largest in Northern California, with 14 races and more than 3,000 runners. The meet annually is scheduled on a Saturday in late September or early October. This year, it was October 1.
The target date for 2017 was September 30. However, that is the same date as Stanford's home football game against Arizona State. Because of the demands on Stanford operations staff and local law enforcement, there was not enough manpower available for two large campus sporting events on a football gameday.
Because students make up a large portion of the meet workforce, the September 23 date was not available because classes have yet to start. That date also could not be justified because Stanford is still in training camp at Mammoth Lakes.
October 7 was not workable because of the spacing of Stanford's cross country schedule, with the Wisconsin Invitational the following week. Therefore, Sept. 30 was the only true option.
The meet has been held annually since 1974.