Rich Wright and Mike Agostinella stood near the starting line for the Red, White & Blue Classic 11 days ago and traded barbs.

"Baldwin's got that big bull's-eye on its back now. They're the ones to beat," said Agostinella, Mt. Lebanon's boys' cross country coach, with a big smile.

"No, Mt. Lebanon's the team this year," Wright, who coaches Baldwin, said with a laugh.

There was a lot of truth in what Agostinella was saying after what Baldwin did at the Red, White & Blue Classic. Baldwin was impressive in winning the boys' overall and A Division team titles in the race at Schenley Park.

The Highlanders finished with 78 points to edge out defending WPIAL Class AAA champions North Allegheny, which finished with 94. Mt. Lebanon was fourth with 159, while Class AA Quaker Valley was third with 153.

Going into the race, Wright thought his runners had a chance to do well.

After all, the Highlanders had won the team title at the Gateway Invitational the previous weekend. But in cross country there is always the unknown and North Allegheny, Mt. Lebanon and North Hills did not compete at Gateway.

So, the Red, White & Blue was the first big test for Baldwin ... and it passed with flying colors.

"We don't put the event [Red, White & Blue Classic] on for Baldwin to win," said Wright, who was the race director. "We were excited a couple of year's ago when David Adley won here and we're excited about doing this."

Baldwin had three runners -- Matt Cecala, Dennis Logan and Michael Cain -- place in the top 15. Cecala, a senior, was fourth and covered the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 43 seconds. Logan was sixth in 15:56 and Cain was 15th in 16:14.

Sophomore Bobby Bishop, who played football last year, has been Baldwin's second or third man during the early part of the season, but slipped and tweaked a hamstring early in the race. He finished 21st with junior Paul DeGregorio 32nd.

"We held him out of our meet against Peters Township last week just to make sure," Wright said. "He's OK and probably could have run but there was no need."

The fact Bishop didn't run as well as expected because of the slip and Baldwin still was able to win the team title says something about the quality of Baldwin's team. And, all kidding aside, it does put a target on the Highlanders.

"We legitimately won a cross country meet that was loaded with quality teams," Wright said. "Does that mean we'll win something bigger down the road? I don't know.

"After we won at Gateway, I told the guys, 'You can't live with what you did at this meet.' They responded because they went out and posted some very, very good times."

In Cecala, Baldwin has a top runner who can win any race at any time. Yes, Mt. Lebanon's Rad Gunzenhauser stamped himself as the guy to beat for the WPIAL individual title by winning at the Red, White & Blue in 15:24. But Cecala is more than capable of pulling an upset.

Just as Mt. Lebanon is more than capable of beating Baldwin for the WPIAL Class AAA boys' title. The Blue Devils always get better as the season progresses.

"If we stay healthy, we should be OK," Wright said. "[The Red, White & Blue] was a measuring stick, but that's it."

Baldwin was scheduled to run Mt, Lebanon and Canon-McMillan at the Big Macs' course yesterday afternoon. That meet was expected to go a long way toward deciding the Section 6-AAA champion. Wright was looking forward to the race because of the competition it will provide his runners.

"At Baldwin we don't talk about trying to beat this team or that team. We talk about running our best and improving," Wright said. "Mike and I kid each other but the truth is he's one of my best friends. If I have a problem, I don't hesitate to call Mike.

"I can't root against any of the kids. That's why I was happy for Rad and that he won. He's a good kid and we put the meet on for the kids."

It just so happened that this year, the kids from Baldwin won.