Coach Harry Groves and his Penn State men's track team have probably forgotten what it's like to compete in a meet at the Greenberg Sports Complex.

After four straight weeks with appearances in Ithaca, N.Y., Johnson City, Tenn., New York City and Toronto the road-weary Lions finally get the chance to show their stuff to the home folks.

The Red Raiders from Shippensburg will head into State College as the Lions prepare to do battle with them in a dual meet at 2 tomorrow afternoon in the Sports Complex.

"It's good to have a meet here in Greenberg," Groves said. "But this place is like Death Valley or a snake pit for opposing teams. Teams don't like to run here because of the track conditions."

But for Shippensburg this is a good opportunity to test its team against some of the nation's best talent.

"This is a good meet for both teams," Groves said. "It allows for our people to work towards the IC4As and it sets the tone of competiton for them."

The Red Raiders, coached by Ron Shank, are a Division II power that perennially ranks in the top five in track and cross country every year.

Besides winning the dual meet, however, several Penn State athletes will be using this opportunity to better their performances.

But the big event of the day won't be at Greenberg. Instead it will be the huge 4x800 relay race at Boston University. The team of Joe Stegbauer, Bob Hamer, Aidan O'Reilly and Doug Walter will compete against a tough Dartmouth team at what is labeled "The Prime Time Meet."

"We're looking to qualify for the NCAAs with this team," said Walter, the anchorman in the event.

In the Shippensburg meet, the major event will be the distance medley relay. Rob Goff will run the 880, Jon Strange will run the 440, Andy Scott the ¾-mile and Mike Crescenzi the mile.

Shot putter Phil Caraher, who has a touch of the flu, will not only try to improve his technique in the shot put, he will also try to qualify for the IC4As in the 35-pound hammer.

Triple jumper Ricardo Hall, only one foot away from qualifying for the NCAAs in the event, will look to nail over 51 feet. Craig Waltz is trying to beat his career high of 6'7" in the high jump, and hurdlers Jerry Robinson, Kevin Cripanuk and Brian Kelly seek to qualify for the IC4As.