What was supposed to be a Harvard romp turned out to be nothing of the sort as the Crimson cross-country team barely escaped with a 27-28 victory over Penn at Van Cortlandt Park in New York yesterday. Columbia was the amiable host for the meet, bowing as expected to the Crimson 16-47.

Walt Hewlett crossed the finish first without being pushed, although he was not his usual sensational self. The Harvard sophomore's time over the rolling five-mile course was 26:54.6, more than two minutes slower than the record. Crimson captain Ed Meehan was second 35 seconds behind Hewlett, but below that Harvard ran into trouble.

Penn Shows Surprising Depth

Second through sixth places were occupied by Penn runners as the Quakers showed unexpected depth. Part of the trouble was the fact that Buffalo Bill Crain, the third member of Harvard's big three, finished a lowly 18th. Crain has been sick all week and was running only at half speed under instructions from Coach Bill McCurdy.

Harvard's number four runner John Ogden did not run at all yesterday due to illness. Bob Anschuetz, who was a valuable point-getter last year and has been fifth on occasion for Harvard this year, limped through the final three miles on an injured knee to finish 25th.

Only strong performances by sophomores Dave Allen, Langdon Burwell, and Roger Smith prevented an embarrassing defeat. Allen and Burwell finished sixth and seventh, and Smith was tenth, nosing out a Penn runner to insure victory.

Unbelievably inept, Columbia had only two runners finish in the top 20. The Lions' sophomore flash Robert Conway was a disappointing ninth.

Harvard will now have two weeks to nurse its various ailments before the Big Three meet in New Haven Nov. 1. Next week, it will take a nice ride to Hanover for what should amount to no more than an easy workout against Dartmouth.