"That was a perfect place to accelerate," the senior said.
His idea worked well, as he broke open a close race at that point on his way to winning the EBAL championship meet title with a time of 15 minutes, 38 seconds in warm conditions.
"My plan was just, with one mile to go, to keep surging and get those few extra steps in front of everybody," said Kislyuk, who moved to the United States with his family from Russia when he was 7 years old. "In my mind before the race, I was thinking 'Whatever happens in the race, I'll have to adjust.'"
But everything worked out for Kislyuk, who finished third in the EBAL championship race last year. At the 1-mile mark, he led a front pack of three with a split of 5:06, and battled with Monte Vista's Bhavik Kanzaria for the lead until he made his pivotal move in the final mile. Kanzaria finished second in 15:49.
Amador Valley's Shawn Daut led the Dons to the championship meet team title with a third place finish in 15:50. Other Dons scorers were Luke Montgomery (fourth, 15:53.21), Garrett Ward (seventh, 16:03.04), Kellen Cole (11th, 16:20) and Mike Marlin (13th, 16:22). The Dons, who were undefeated during the EBAL regular season, also won the overall league title.
In the girls race, Livermore's Diana George was a clear favorite, and she won in dominating fashion. The two-time defending champion took the lead in the first 100 yards and held a four-second advantage over second place by the 1-mile mark before stretching the lead. The junior finished with a time of 18:09. California sophomore Colleen Lillig was second (18:46).
"I wanted to get a P.R. today, but I wasn't feeling too good. I just wanted to win," George said.
But her focus after the race was more on her team's efforts. Livermore won the girls championship meet team title with a score of 45. Besides George, the other Livermore scorers were Robin Roque (fourth, 19:16), Abigail Gregg (eighth, 19:36), Hayley Sa (13th, 20:15) and Lauren Salcedo (19th, 20:41). It had been more than 15 years since Livermore won a league championship meet girls title, said coach Ed Salazar.
"We have such a stronger team (than in the past two years)," George said.
Interestingly, Granada won the overall EBAL girls title despite finishing second in both Saturday's league championship meet and the regular season. The overall title is decided by a points system that combines both the league meet and the regular season. California's girls squad finished first in the regular season, but third on Saturday. Livermore was third in the regular season.
Contact Phil Jensen at pjensen@bayareanewsgroup.com.
