With Roy Shaw running the three-quarter mile in a blisteringly fast 2:54.3, Harvard's distance medley team placed second yesterday in the Penn Relays held in Philadelphia.

The overall team time for the medley --which was half, quarter, three-quarter, and mile legs--was 9:40.1. Villanova won with a time of 9:37.9.

When Jeff Huvelle handed off to Shaw for the three-quarter, Villanova's Frank Murphy held a 10-15 yard jump. Sprinting the first quarter mile in 54.8 seconds, Shaw passed Murphy.

He could not maintain this grueling pace, though, and Murphy passed him near the finish to give Villanova's Dave Patrick a 15 yard jump on Jim Baker.

Baker caught up to Patrick and dogged his heels until the final sprint when Patrick outkicked him and won in 4:05.4. Baker was three tenths of a second behind.

Harvard's Frank Haggerty took third in the 440 hurdles with a time of 51.8 seconds. Huvelle placed third in the 440-yard run in 47.6 seconds and Trey Burns finished fourth in the 880 in 1:52.5.

In the discus Ron Wilson placed second with a toss of 165 ft., 1 1/2 inches. Wilson threw the hammer 187 ft., 1 inch, for fifth place.

Approximately 120 colleges took part in yesterday's events.