There was an old story going around the track circuit a couple of years back concerning pro football's middle linebacker Tim Rossovich's antics in a certain sprint race out on the west coast. Rossovich, a notorious "flake," to use the sportwriters' cliched epithet, had challenged the foremost sprinters in the nation to a 60-yard dash. As he stepped up to the starting line, he produced a can of STP oil, opened it, and proceeded to down the whole can. When the gun sounded, Rossovich took off with a sluggish start, and finished about three lengths behind the rest of the field.

But when the quick-thinking football player was called on to explain his defeat, all he could say was that of course he lost, because the STP had no doubt clogged his tubes.

Finest Trackmen Ever

The Harvard runners may not have as good an excuse as Rossovich this weekend at the Penn Relays, but they needn't provide any. The thinclads will be taking on a field of trackmen that is easily the finest ever assembled in the 80 years of Philly's track carnival.

The Crimson's brave cadre of trackmen may not come back with laurels but they are sure to come back impressed by what they have seen. Typical of the over-awing assemblage of thinclad talent will be the mile relay teams that Harvard's Sam Butler, Nick Leone, Joel Peters, and Randy Buckley will have to challenge.

The Harvard team, which hit 3:22 against Yale on Wednesday, will probably see action against a North Carolina Central Squad featuring Kenyan Julius Sang and sprinter Larry Black. The NCCU team holds the collegiate record of 3:03, which the squad hit two years ago on the same Franklin Field surface it will run on today. What is even more amazing than the team's 3:03 logging, is that the combined splits of this year's main eventers portends a possible under-3:00 finish.

Mel Embree will be faced with similar dilemma in today's high jump competition. The 7 ft. 1/4 in. jumper and holder of the Harvard high jump record, will jump into a field of 12 other men who have cleared 7 ft. and higher, including Paul Underwood and Ed Lennox, two 7 ft. 2 in.-plus jumpers.

The relays also feature some standout milers, including Tony Waldrop, the world's indoor record holder at 3:55. Ric Rojas, Harvard's entry, and a consistent 4:09 man, will be faced with a contingent of at least six runners who are sure to go under 4:00.

Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, Harvard's hope in the long and triple jump contests, will probably be in the best shape to pick up a few points for the Crimson. But even the triple winner at the Greater Boston Championships will have to leap more than two feet better than his 24 ft. 5 1/2 in. mark at the Heptagonals before he will be assured a spot in the top three.

Nevertheless, none of these contests will compare to the 100-yard dash match-ups scheduled for this afternoon. In these stellar heats, there are enough 9.2 sprinters assembled to make up about five gold medal 440 relay teams. Particularly impressive is San Diego's Steve Williams, the number one sprinter in the world to date. About one one-hundreth of a second off Williams's pace is Chris Gorpenborg of UTEP, a steady 9.2 runner. Reynaud Robinson of Olympic notoriety will also be in attendance, as well as NCCU's versatile Larry Black. Black.

Fantastic fields such as these, however, are nothing new to the Penn Relays contests. The showcase carnival has always pulled in the best runners around. But what makes them come every year? The Penn Relays have always been some sort of dream for all runners. Every trackman always has the same image in mind of coming around that 330 yd. mark, with the baton in hand, listening to those 50,000 fans cheer him on. It's this one moment of glory that keeps the good runners coming in year after year, and will keep them coming as long as the carnival lasts.