The first time D.J. Krystek ran in the Red, White & Blue Classic at Schenley Park he made the mistake of going out too slow on the 3.1-mile cross country course.

Last year, he made the mistake of going out too fast.

Yesterday, Krystek, a senior at Gateway High School, got it just right.

He paced himself perfectly for the first mile and a half, picked up his pace and started moving toward the front at the two-mile mark, then ran down Mt. Lebanon's Rad Gunzenhauser in the final half mile to win with a time of 15 minutes, 53 seconds.

In the girls' race, Norwin senior Leslie Kovach pulled away at about the two-mile mark and beat Hampton junior Elaina Balouris to the finish line. Kovach's time was 18:31.

When runners came out of the trail through the woods and started up the short hill that leads to the flat part of the course that runs the perimeter of Schenley Park Oval, Gunzenhauser had about a 30-yard lead. But he looked to be laboring.

"I had him in my sights and I started to pick up my tempo a little bit," Krystek said.

Halfway around the oval, with about 300 yards remaining, Krystek passed Gunzenhauser.

"When I got close, I figured 'Let's go for it.' I threw in little surges to wear him down a little bit and then outkicked him at the end," Krystek said.

After winning the Gateway Invitational at Boyce Park last weekend, Krystek thought he had a good chance of winning yesterday. He said he put some pressure on himself before the race because, "College decision time is coming, and I figured if I got a win today it would put my name out there a little bit."

With the graduation of Baldwin's David Adley, who won the WPIAL Class AAA title last year, Krystek has become the early favorite to win the WPIAL Class AAA championship.

"I wanted to run a 15:40 today," Krystek said. "I got around 15:52 and I think Adley ran 15:50 last year, so anything close to what he did is good."

Actually, Adley finished in 15:54 last year, so Krystek is ahead of the game.

The girls' race lost a little luster when Latrobe, with three-time WPIAL Class AAA champion Natalie Bower, decided to run at Gettysburg yesterday. Bower had won two of the past three Red, White & Blue races.

Kovach, who was 10th last year, was disappointed Latrobe wasn't in the field.

"I wanted to race against her," said Kovach, whose time was four seconds slower than what Bower ran on the same course last year.

Once Kovach pulled away from the pack, the only runner with a shot at her was Balouris, but she couldn't close the gap.

"People kept telling me how far behind Elaina was, but I kept telling myself she was right on my shoulder so I'd keep pushing," Kovach said.

In something of a surprise, North Allegheny edged North Hills, 56-76, for the A Division boys' team title. North Hills, ranked No. 7 in the state by PennTrackXC.com, had four runners in the top 11, but its fifth runner was 49th.

Center edged Mars for the B Division boys' team title. Both finished with 113 points, but Center's sixth runner was 43rd, while Mars' was 48th.

North Allegheny also won the girls' A Division beating Norwin, 111-153. Mt. Lebanon was third (157). Mars won the girls' B Division with 105 points. Northgate was second (126).