The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor boys, Brush’s Allen hit jackpot
Mentor, Brush and Riverside were part of the Nordonia Knight Relays. A few athletes got to Macedonia.
MACEDONIA » As most of the area contingent was stuck in neutral figuring out what to do with an unexpected free day April 8, a fortunate few had buses full speed ahead toward competition.
Three of them — Mentor, Brush and Riverside — were part of the Nordonia Knight Relays. And a fortunate few athletes among that group hit the jackpot once they got to Macedonia.
The Cardinals’ boys recorded 11 top-four finishes and staved off Brunswick for the team title, 86-82, and the Arcs’ Jasmyn Allen continued her breakout junior campaign with a dominant performance to take first in 100-meter hurdles.
They were luckier than most. The Chardon Hilltopper Invitational was canceled April 7, with teams filling the void April 8 with a practice or finding their way into another meet, as Lake Catholic did by heading to the Medina Relays.
There were hopes to get in the Beachwood Invitational — for which much of the rest of the area ranks traveled — in the early hours April 8 once snow melted. But with black ice on the track and around the facility and snow-covered field-event areas, it was clear the Bison could not have a spring showcase for their new stadium.
So for a day, athletes were glad just to get in a meet — even a primarily all-relay format to break up the monotony of the season.
“Today was really fun,”
Mentor senior middle-distance standout Matthew Bull said. “I had a blast running with my teammates. I think the relay meets are really fun for team bonding kind of stuff.”
Bull anchored the Cardinals’ winning 4x1,600 and distance medley relays. The 4x1,600 turned in a time of 18 minutes, 45.20 seconds. After trailing at the anchor exchange, the returning first-team News-Herald all-star hammered the backstretch, took the lead at 175 and rolled from there to a 4:32 split in his first career 4x1,600.
Opener and middle legs were very encouraging from Mentor — including freshman Nicholas Kozlowski running confident splits in both events — leading into the usual steady work from Bull. The DMR had a 10:57.40, giving Bull a comfortable lead over Brunswick stalwart Andre Wilson and then pacing it nicely from there.
“I was so impressed with my team today,” said Bull, who also went 51.9 to anchor 4x4. “We really came out and killed it — a lot better than I thought we could do this early in the season. I’m really happy with how we performed today.”
Since a state runnerup in 60 hurdles at the D-I state indoor meet last month, Allen has been serving notice of promise to come, and that was reinforced with a nice piece of business at Nordonia.
Allen took 100 hurdles in style with a 14.80. Her technique compared to last spring, when she was a D-I Austintown-Fitch Regional qualifier, is markedly better in steps and particularly on the trail leg. Hitting a sub-15 in early April, after going a second slower at Fitch and not getting out of prelims, made this a day well spent.
“Definitely my trail leg, because my trail leg ... ugh. It was so slow,” Allen said of the biggest stride in her technique. “But now it’s quicker, and my lead leg is snapping down faster. My arms, because I used to look like a chicken. Now I don’t — I don’t anymore.
“(State indoor) was a huge boost because I didn’t think I could do that, but I did. And I just kept training and training. It’s really paying off now.”
The Mentor girls were second as a team with 77 points, getting event titles from their 4x2 and high jump relays.