Mentor puts title on ice at Nordonia

MACEDONIA » There was plenty of time to ponder April 6 during the Nordonia Knight Relays for Mentor — and all attendees for that matter.

Meet officials, amid a frigid Saturday that grounded several Northeast Ohio meets, wisely moved the start time back to 11 a.m. to provide clearer and — using the term loosely — warmer conditions.

Then the meet didn’t conclude until after 5 p.m. as girls pole vault ran long.

But it marked plenty of time for the Cardinals to bask in a job well done — and there’s plenty of time to enjoy Nick Kozlowski’s exploits in helping to lead that charge.

The Mentor boys won five events to roll to the team title at Nordonia with 88 points, well ahead of Brecksville-Broadview Heights (64). Due to computer issues, disputed results and a backload of field events, that 88-point total could not be deciphered until all of the buses were on the road back north.

But the Cardinals knew they were fine after a pair of firsts from their distance medley and 4x400-meter relays anchored by Kozlowski, a promising sophomore just scratching the surface with his middle-distance quality.

The frustration was evident after a 4x1,600 that didn’t go according to plan, with Mentor taking second but not quite with the pacing it intended. That was taken out on DMR and 4x4.

“That gave us so much more motivation,” Kozlowski said. “We were not doing as well as we wanted to in the 4x1,600, and we came through in the DMR and the 4x4.

“That was huge for us because we saw that the 4x8 team did really well, and we just wanted to keep the momentum rolling and keep that team spirit up so that we could get the win for the meet. That was impressive.”

DMR won with a time of 11 minutes, 13.92 seconds, and 4x4 handled its business with a solid 3:34.21.

Everything from warmups to backstretch attacks can be amplified in such chilly conditions.

“On a day like this where it’s really windy and cold, it is extremely hard to keep your pace,” Kozlowski said. “Because your lungs feel like they’re going to explode. But keeping that mentality, keeping that focus that you want to win it

CHRIS LILLSTRUNG — THE NEWS-HERALD Mentor poses with its boys team title April 7 after the Nordonia Knight Relays.