There are some things in life that we can always count on at this time of the year. The flowers will bloom, the trees will turn green and the world's best athletes will meet in the city of brotherly love for the Penn Relays.

Beginning today and lasting through Saturday, the 112th running of the Penn Relay carnival will be taking place at historic Franklin Field in the heart of Philadelphia.

The Penn Relays are to track what the Masters are to golf or Wimbledon is to tennis, they are simply put, the pinnacle of the track and field world. Penn State men's track and field head coach Harry Groves put it best.

"I would rather win at the Penn Relays than win an Olympic medal," Groves said.

To a track athlete, nothing means more than the Penn Relays.

The entire track and field community is focused on these three days, searching for the next rock star runner, the next Steve Prefontaine or Michael Johnson.

Preparing for this quest, the Penn State men's track and field team left Centre County yesterday afternoon headed for the southeastern corner of the commonwealth with high hopes and big dreams.

"This is it," distance runner Dan Mazzocco said. "The Penn Relays is the most important meet of the year."

Mazzocco also added that Groves has stressed the importance of the Relays to his team.

"You can tell Coach loves the Relays," Mazzocco said, "He constantly tells us how it is the most important event in all of track."

The team will be riding high into this weekend, coming off of a strong showing at the Nittany Lion Relays this past weekend.

Probably the hottest of the Nittany Lions is senior thrower Steve Meyers, who garnered Big Ten Co-Athlete of the Week honors after capturing the shot put and discus. He also posted his second regional qualifier by throwing the discus a personal best 171-09.

Also coming off of a strong performance is senior high jumper Tyler Fedeli. Fedeli qualified for regionals as well when he cleared a height of 6-10.75 this past weekend.

Fellow high jumper Ryan Fritz, whose from the Philadelphia suburb of Parkesburg, heads home trying to capture the rare Penn Relays double. Fritz won the high school high jump last year when he cleared 7-0.5.

The Penn State relay team with the highest expectations this weekend is the 4x800 team of Erin Otterson, Dan Michael, Mark Miller and Matt Lincoln. The team heads to Philadelphia coming off of an impressive showing at the Sea Ray Relays, where it bested a deep field of quality teams.

As the bus makes its way down Route 322, the entire track-and-field world will be waiting for the Lions in Philadelphia. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could turn a seemingly unknown into a superstar in the matter of a few seconds, and the Nittany Lions are hoping to get their few seconds of fame.

As Groves said, "The Penn Relays is the most prestigious event in our sport and just being able to compete there is an honor."