BOARDMAN — Mentor came into the Division I regional meet with a strategy Oct. 26. The Cardinals had just lost the team race at the Madison District to St. Ignatius and were looking for revenge. Billy Dennison and Matthew Penkowski led the way with top 10 finishes of sixth and eighth with times of 15:55.60 and 16:02.96, respectively. Coupled with Michael Maynard in the top 40 and all five runners in the top 100, the Cardinals finished third as a team with 178 points. Dennison and Penkowski said there are spots to improve with Hudson and Massilon Jackson ahead of them in the team standings. Related Articles Girls cross country: Kirtland’s historic day headlines regional meet Beaumont cross country: Holody views breakout year as launching point for rest of high school career High school cross country: South’s Ethan Scott, Mayfield’s Tim Zagar exorcise district demons for regional bids in senior year News-Herald players of the week for Oct. 24 Geneva cross country: Mackenzie Lyons’ second-half surge leads to regional “We had a great game plan coming in,” Dennison said. “We needed to survive on the first hill and you need to pick your spot and make it stick. There’s not a lot of them so we used the downhill before the first mile to pick up spots.” Penkowski added: “The last 500, the pack I was with broke away from me. So coming down the hill, I needed to go because someone was coming. I just needed to turn on the turbo and go.” While Mentor was safe, Chardon played the waiting game for team advancement. Caleb Nieset had a solid race, 16:22.52 for 30th but wasn’t in his normal form. That’s where Josh Calzada came in. He had been the third or fourth runner for most of the year, but Calzada posted a 16:17.42, a minute faster than a year ago, for 20th. His strong finish pushed the Hilltoppers to a tie with Boardman at 244 points, and they took eighth on the tiebreaker for the final advancement slot. “I knew I was capable of something like this all season,” Calzada said. “I just thought that if I got out fast, there was going to be a front pack and I couldn’t get stuck behind. So I had to go out and that’s where I needed to be. Mentally I knew I needed to get as many spots as possible because the team needed me.” The Division II race featured no separation from leaders and pack in the beginning mile, as a herd of 70 runners took the turn at the mark together. But shortly after that mile mark, Chagrin Falls’ front runner Tommy Mooney lost his shoe and had to finish out the meet before getting it. His race was hindered, and he finished 24th with a 16:42.77. But his teammates picked it up. Zach Huey finished 27th with a 16:47.25 and was followed by Kelan Byrne in 39th to put three runners in the top 40. Those three created enough of a cushion for Chagrin Falls to take the sixth and final advancement spot from Salem with 232 team points to the Quakers’ 237. “I told myself to go,” Huey said. “I didn’t run well here last year and I knew we needed it this year. I knew everyone wanted to go early and I needed to have a good launch to go. I wasn’t focused on position, I just needed to keep getting the guy in front of me.” Among the leaders was Owen Thomas of NDCL. The freshman was among the top 10 breakaways in the second mile and finished ninth with a 16:28.05. Thomas is part of a young and talented Lions team and knows they can build on the district meet for years to come. “I saw an old teammate and wanted to stick with him,” Thomas said. “I knew he would be good to follow. It’ll be huge just getting the chemistry and working together for years.” West Geauga’s Jacob Williams also qualified for the state meet in 20th with a 16:40.08. In the boys Division III race, Kirtland’s Joey Ciavarelli led the area group with a 38th and a time of 17:55.98 Cardinal’s Sam Gdovichin was 40th with a 17:57.45 and again has to wait for that elusive state bid.