For Ku Stevens, Running Is a ‘Profound Act’

By BY TALYA MINSBERG from NYT Sports This fall, Ku Stevens became the fastest cross-country runner in all of Nevada. But he would be running even if he wasn’t winning.https://nyti.ms/3CZHkXC

After a Year Off, and an Off Year, Ivy League Crowns Familiar Champions

By BY BILLY WITZ from NYT Sports The only Division I league to not play football last season because of the pandemic, the Ivy League endured an unusual journey of virus disruptions in its return.https://nyti.ms/3kVivpQ

The First Family of New Jersey Football

By BY KEVIN ARMSTRONG from NYT Sports Seventeen of the last 20 New Jersey state high school championships have featured a team coached by Mike Campanile or one of his four sons.https://nyti.ms/32c3Qjf

The First Family of New Jersey Football

By BY KEVIN ARMSTRONG from NYT Sports Seventeen of the last 20 New Jersey state high school championships have featured a team coached by Mike Campanile or one of his four sons.https://nyti.ms/3cqMu4e

California’s High School Football Powerhouses Feed the College Game

By BY BILLY WITZ AND GABRIELLA ANGOTTI-JONES from NYT Sports St. John Bosco and Mater Dei, 24 miles apart in Southern California, don’t just funnel players to the top college teams. Increasingly, they resemble them.https://nyti.ms/3FgyZjO

Students Use the Los Angeles Marathon as a Way to Keep Going

By BY MATTHEW FUTTERMAN from NYT Sports Over the past three decades, more than 50,000 students have trained for and completed the Los Angeles Marathon.https://nyti.ms/3E9BC6y

‘Looking Back, I am Glad We Played’

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT Sports Stuyvesant High, blocks from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, finished its football season in 2001 under dour circumstances. Was the attempt at normalcy worth it?https://nyti.ms/3hquud1

‘Looking Back, I am Glad We Played’

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT Sports Stuyvesant High, blocks from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, finished its football season in 2001 under dour circumstances. Was the attempt at normalcy worth it?https://nyti.ms/3tyN73j

Louisiana High School Sports Meet a Mighty Opponent: Climate Change

By BY JERÉ LONGMAN from NYT Sports Repeated hurricanes have devastated the state’s schools, teams and athletic fields. Ida was the latest reminder of the challenges facing the Sportsman’s Paradise.https://nyti.ms/3yMofWO

Louisiana High School Sports Meet a Mighty Opponent: Climate Change

By BY JERÉ LONGMAN from NYT Sports Repeated hurricanes have devastated the state’s schools, teams and athletic fields. Ida was the latest reminder of the challenges facing the Sportsman’s Paradise.https://nyti.ms/3tklScQ

‘I’m Not Just a Kid Who Did Something Wrong’

By BY JERÉ LONGMAN from NYT Sports A high school football player in Texas became infamous when he did the unthinkable, leveling a referee. With grace from the ref, the player is seeking a new start.https://nyti.ms/3r3Q8Yc

Teenage Ballers Can Cash in Earlier Than Ever. But at What Cost?

By BY DAVID GARDNER from NYT Sports Male players as young as 16 have many options to play high-level basketball before the N.B.A. without going to college — and get paid big money to do it.https://nyti.ms/3w0fjfg

The Protector

By BY DAVID W. CHEN from NYT Sports Alex Harrison survived child sexual abuse at the hands of his high school tennis coach. Now he is seeking justice, for himself and others.https://nyti.ms/3v1ORRH

A New League’s Shot at the N.C.A.A.: $100,000 Salaries for High School Players

By BY KEVIN DRAPER from NYT Sports The Overtime Elite league proposes that providing a salary and a focus toward a pro career might be more appealing than college basketball’s biggest programs.https://nyti.ms/3rkqJZu

The Heir to the Manning Quarterback Legacy Isn’t on TikTok

By BY JERÉ LONGMAN from NYT Sports Arch Manning, 16, nephew of Peyton and Eli, has a protective family to steer him from the perils of fame and expectation. And a grandfather, Archie, who texts him reminders to “have fun.”https://nyti.ms/3q0dcWR

Friday Night Bytes: Can Analytics Revolutionize High School Football?

By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports George Mahoney is an efficiency expert by trade and by nature. He’s also among the analytics-minded coaches trying to bring data to one of the last holdouts in American sports — high school football.https://nyti.ms/2I8FUmN

Play Hard. Have Fun. Don’t Touch Anyone.

By BY ANDREW KEH from NYT Sports In Massachusetts, rules changes brought on by the pandemic are forcing soccer players and coaches to adapt to a very different game.https://nyti.ms/3dmy7xC

‘Everything Is Closed Down.’ The Lack of Youth Sports Is a Crisis.

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT Sports Despite a glut of sports on TV, the lack of youth leagues and teams in the pandemic could cost us for years to come.https://nyti.ms/3lyIVvl

The Pandemic Is Chasing Aging Coaches From the Field

By BY JERÉ LONGMAN from NYT Sports One of Louisiana’s most successful high school football coaches retired, concerned that his blood cancer made him vulnerable to Covid-19. At least 30 high school and club coaches have died of the coronavirus.https://nyti.ms/3c8fOvp

Tom Jernstedt, an Architect of March Madness, Dies at 75

By BY RICHARD SANDOMIR from NYT Sports A former backup college quarterback, he helped transform the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament into one of the biggest events in sports.https://nyti.ms/3398USp