One small, soft-spoken man with a gun has over 50 College athletes running around in circles. Armed only with spikes, the men daily race around the track inside Soldiers Field in preparation for the out season opener this Saturday.

Several of them turned in outstanding performances during the winter. Some of them are new. But all of them feel like breaking records. And most of the, can do it.

As it stands now, the team has no really weak points, but several events lack the depth that Coach Jaakko Mikkola would like to have.

The team will be competing on two fronts this week. The mile relay team is travelling south to Birmingham, where it will compete with some 50 colleges in the Southern Relays. Ronnie Berman, who built up an impressive record is indoor track this winter, heads the squad, with Eddie Gurtzner, Tom McGrath, and John Packard offering good competition to all challengers. Discus-thrower Al Wilson will also make the trip.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team meets Boston College on home ground. Strongest are the weight men. Bill McCurdy, who coaches freshman track and supervises the varsity pound pushers, thinks his part of the squad should total the bulk of points ever opponents by the season's end.

Wilson might prove the wonder boy of the hammer. Never having thrown one before, he managed to hit over 55 feet with 35-pound weight in the cage this winter, only a foot less than the Harvard record. Dick Rubin, Bob Curran, and Eric Stromstead are also top men. Wilson also excels in the discus. McCurdy expects him to do better than 150 feet before June.

Small, Strong Shot Squad

Nell Pratt, a sophomore southpaw, looks good in the discus. Jack Kiggen and Bob Buber give the Crimson depth in this event. In the shot, head man is Jerry Kanter, who took the event in the Yale indoor meet by heaving the sphere over 47 feet. Bob Ray should be able to equal this, and Wilson is expected to make a good showing here, too.

In the javelin, Captain Charlie Keith and Fred Ravreby have already been averaging 180 to 190 feet and with practice can do better. The long spear throw is still track's trickiest event.

Bob Mello, record breaker in the pole vault in his freshman year, started the winter in usual form, then faded. There's no reason why he can't recapture his spring. So far, Mello's touch.

High jumping Dick Barwise, who did 6 feet, 3 1/2 inches to set a Harvard indoor record last winter, will look to top that mark in the event during the spring. Jumping for distance, Bill Geick, Mello, Greg Kolligian, and Will Van Epps can all do better than 20 feet, and should make 22.

Track events do not have the depth of the field divisions. Bob Twitchell and Charlie Durakis will handle the hurdles alone but Mikkola excepts them to show up well. Sprinters make up the largest group, with Peter Curran, Dick Weiskopf, Geick, and Kolligian participating.

Grutzner and Berman match each other as the top men in the quarter mile event, where Packard and McGrath follow. McGrath may go into the half later, but Joe Walsh can almost equal his quarter performance.

In the half already are Jim Downey, Bill Montague, Jim Little, and Joe Rosen, the latter famed for the picture Life ran of him in their "Sport or Torture" feature a few months ago. Little looks especially good, and Mikkola expects a great deal of improvement from him.

Dave Cairns and Downey are the only mile stalwarts--both dependable and potentially very strong. Two mile men include Dave Gregory, Dick White, and Al Masters, all of whom have given much work and time to the event that should show to good advantage.

No event is noticeably weak, and the team should have no trouble with Boston College on Saturday.

After that, Boston University, Holy Cross, Rhode Island, Dartmouth, and Yale will toe the white line with Mikkola's men. Jaakko smiles, then explains, "We'll get along. We need some work, but we'll get along."