One of the most endearing aspects of the Penn Relays is the seemingly endless array of high school teams that come to Franklin Field each year.
While they are relatively anonymous as they wait nervously in the paddock outside the stadium's gates, once they enter the track they have the full attention of tens of thousands of screaming fans.
But a set of guidelines established by the National Federation of State High School Associations could throw a considerable wrench in the works come April.
The rules in question relate to whether or not schools that are sanctioned by state athletic associations may compete with schools that are not sanctioned.
Last year, Massachusetts schools threatened to boycott the Penn Relays unless their events were re-seeded so that they would not face non-sanctioned teams in heat races. This year, New York may be about to cause the most trouble.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association -- which governs public, private and parochial schools -- is insisting on a strict enforcement of the rules ahead of the 111th edition of the Relays. This could lead to splitting the renowned Championship of America races if New York schools refuse to race non-sanctioned schools from other states.
"The difference between now and preceding years is that over the last couple years, there have been enough discrepancies in interpretation from state to state that I believe thenational federation asked that all the states review their sanctioning policies," Penn Relays director Dave Johnson said. "Each state presents its own situation and I just have to work through each of those situations."
The rules govern a wide range of topics, from the age at which athletes may join high school varsity teams to the distance they can travel to compete and how much money they can spend.
For example, New York allows students in the seventh and eighth grades to compete on high school varsity teams, while the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association -- which governs almost every league in the state except for the Philadelphia Catholic League -- does not.
The Catholic League has dealt with many difficult logistical issues in recent years, mostly having to do with football games between Catholic League and non-Catholic League schools. There has been plenty of talk lately about the Catholic League joining the PIAA, but Johnson said that "they certainly aren't there yet, and I don't know if yet is even the proper term."
This past December, Catholic League principals rejected a re-alignment into City and Suburban divisions, preferring to maintain the current Red-Blue division by enrollment size. Many observers felt that if the plan had passed, it would have functioned as a first step towards joining the PIAA.
While the PIAA has been able to put aside its disputes for the Penn Relays, Johnson argued that Massachusetts' reading of the national rules last year "went beyond that of other states."
"But it's certainly possible for different people to come up with different readings for the same set of words, and to a certain degree, that's what going on here," he said. "The trick is to get people on the same page, which is what I think the national federation has done, and then to see what you can do with your own rules to make them best conform to the broadest possible reading."
Representatives of the NYSPHSAA could not be reached for comment. But Lloyd Mott, who is in charge of interstate sanctioning and publishing the Association's rules, gave a stern warning about his state's stance to the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this week.
"I'd hope that Penn Relays learned its lesson from what happened with Massachusetts and doesn't repeat the same mistakes," Mott said. "If they do, we'll be like Massachusetts. Our schools won't be allowed to go."
Johnson acknowledged that most track and field fans probably are wondering why everybody can't just get along.
"I'd like to see everybody in one room agree that essentially member schools are conformed to their standards, to whatever rules they can agree to," he said, "and that they essentially give a blanket endorsement to non-member schools, as long as non-member schools are willing to sign on agreeing that they will participate with the same standards of eligibility that the member schools have."
Until the dispute is resolved, one of track and field's greatest traditions hangs in the balance.
