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North Hills cross country runner Josh Eddy had never won an invitational, because he was in the shadow of teammate Ian Fitzgerald.

Kelley O'Brien from North Allegheny never finished first either.

But that all changed Saturday.

Eddy, a senior, won the boys race at the Red, White & Blue Classic at Schenley Park. He finished the 3.1-mile course in 15 minutes, 52 seconds. He was pushed by North Allegheny's Max Brown, who was second at 16:05, and third place Ken King of Connellsville (16:16).

For his first three years, Eddy had to contend with Fitzgerald, one of the top runners in the WPIAL, who now is at William & Mary. He was second in last year's WPIAL Class AAA championships and third at the PIAA meet.

"This is great to win," Eddy said. "I was always running behind Fitz every other (high school) race, but I trained with him this summer, and he helped me. There were times I had trouble hanging with Fitz, because he was doing college-level workouts."

Eddy prevailed despite having to overcome a stress fracture this winter. He missed five weeks of workouts after he slipped on the ice while running in February.

"He has been working hard, and I expected him to do well," North Hills coach John Wilkie said. "He did miss some time in the winter, but he ran well in track season and has made a full recovery."

Eddy ran a race like Fitzgerald had so many times before. He knew it was his day because he felt it from the minute he woke up.

It was O'Brien's day, too. She won with a time of 19:18, finishing ahead of Latrobe's Elizabeth Brickley at 19:28 and North Allegheny's Michelle Diez (19:34). Tigers coach Jim LeDonne said O'Brien has more endurance this season. He added he wasn't surprised how well she did because he knows how many miles she has logged.

It showed in her performance.

"I led pretty much the whole time," said O'Brien, who finished 10th in the event last year. "I felt pretty good. I really like this course, running through the woods. The first mile is all downhill, so I didn't feel like I was running all that hard."

O'Brien and Eddy helped their teams finish first among 37 schools. In the boys event, North Hills finished with 82 points, Central Catholic had 100, and North Allegheny was third with 111.

For the girls, North Allegheny scored 67 points, followed by Mt. Lebanon with 178, and North Hills with 180. The event, which is becoming one of the top races in the area, was renamed this year to honor the men and women killed by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001 because it was held on the third anniversary of the devastating event.

"I think this means more to win a race dedicated to those lives lost on September 11," O'Brien said. "You know, we tend to get riled up about races, but then you put it in perspective, and ( a race) is really not a big deal."

Eddy said he used the anniversary of the terrorist attacks to motivate him to run faster. He added the victory means more to him because of the date.

"When I was running I was thinking about how much all those people went through," Eddy said. "That was such a terrible thing."

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