I knew of no "meet limit" for the distance runners when I attended school in the last 10 years.
I know in the last 10 years, the Ivy League put in a requirement that would limit the amount of training in the off-season for given sports, called the "seven week rule", where athletes had to spend 7 weeks of the off-season without any interactions with coaching staff. This did not go over so well with many sport groups, in particular crew as they have both a fall and spring season and they felt that forcing this time off would not allow them to train/prepare properly for their spring season. I don't know if this rule has been changed since 2004:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2003/6/27/ivy-league-caps-athletic-recruiting-the/
I remember that distance runners had a bit of a loophole in that the XC, indoor TF, and outdoor TF were considered three different seasons and the time off could overlap with another ongoing season.