Going into the Red, White & Blue Classic yesterday at Schenley Park, Baldwin's David Adley liked his chances of finishing first, but he was surprised by what happened.

Not only did he win the boys' varsity race, he blew away a talented field.

A senior, Adley covered the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 54 seconds. North Allegheny's Matt Jacob was a distant second, 16 seconds back.

Adley didn't have a great deal of strategy for the race, but what he did have worked perfectly.

"Last year I made the mistake of going out and running the first mile too fast," he said. "This year I was 25th at the bottom of the hill and just started picking people off."

By the time he got to the final uphill, he was in first and going strong. He pushed up the hill, found himself all alone and cruised.

For Latrobe's Natalie Bower, the week leading to the race was a concern. She has been bothered by sore calf muscles and wasn't sure she would even race until yesterday morning.

"I felt pretty good, but my calves started to tighten up about halfway through [the race]," she said. "When I got to the line I was just so happy to be finished."

If her legs hurt, Bower didn't show it. She ran away from Hempfield's Amber Valimont in the final three-quarters of a mile, finishing in 18:27. Fox Chapel's Rachel Humphrey was second in 18:38.

As expected, North Allegheny won the boys' Varsity A race title with 58 points to Mt. Lebanon's 106 points. Latrobe won the girls' Varsity A team title over North Allegheny, 123-129, with Mt. Lebanon third at 139.