Nike used to send me a couple of cases of stuff. Spikes flats, sweats, uniform etc.
Often my coach would intercept the boxes and 're-issue' them to supplement the locker room.
When I retired / injured I wrote thanking nike and they sent me some sweats and flats telling me to hang in there. They were always good in those days.
The team also provided shoes.
Went to one of the Ivies in the mid-2000s, where I was a sprinter/hurdler.
We did get free trainers, spikes, and sports bra each school year. We did get sweats but we had to return them at the end of the year (along with the uniform). We kept getting new sponsors each year, as I believe it was just one sponsor for the entire school.
The trainers were just big clunky things, almost like basketball shoes since it seemed like the school/sponsor didn't really think too much on what track athletes would need to train in. We hardly used them and ended up buying our own trainers from a local running store (fortunately, they gave us a school discount of around 10%).
I would hope things have changed in the last 10 years as the team has gotten more successful and there is a new coaching staff. They've also had the same sponsor now for a number of years, so there is consistency in the gear that is handed out for each team/class. I also envy the stuff they get as it is so much nicer than what we get when I competed (sigh).
A long time ago, a college that was then NAIA would send its runners in to get shoes from our store. They basically were allowed to buy any shoes they wanted. We billed the school.
The coach would have to approve the purchase ahead of time or the kid would have to bring in a purchase order.