The Mentor Cardinals have a lot of cards (or rather Cards) to play.
They ended last cross country season on a high note, finishing sixth place at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championship. This year, they seek their third consecutive state qualification, and to improve on last year's placement.
The program has one state title from 1985, but has enjoyed steady success since then, almost entirely with coach Bill Dennison at the helm. He has coached the Cardinals for over 20 years, and in 2008, his boys team finished third-place at the state meet. How close can they get to replicating that outcome (or better) this year?
Although they lost two of their frontrunners to graduation, Matthew Penkowski and Michael Maynard, the Hoka Night XC Showcase highlighted the depth that this team carried into the 2026 season. They competed in the Showcase section and finished runner-up behind Norwin, a Pittsburgh-area powerhouse. But their 45-second spread—and the fact that they placed all seven runners in the top-70—suggests Mentor still possesses plenty to work with.
Senior Carter Schaubert led the Cardinals, running 15:53.30 to finish seventh overall. He has competed in the state cross country championship the past two seasons, qualified for state in the 3200m this past outdoor season, and was a contributing member of a 4x800m relay that finished ninth in the state. Schaubert was just under a second off his personal best this past weekend.
Seconds later, seniors Gabe Tulenson and Vinny Klima came down the stretch under the lights. They finished 22nd and 25th overall out of 420 runners. Tulenson also competed on the state qualifying 4x800m relay this past spring.
Two youngsters, sophomore Corbin Ott and freshman Isaac Bogner rounded out the top five.
Mentor would have easily had the edge in the event their team position was determined via tiebreaker. Two juniors, Shawn Castiglione and Drew Maynard, both finished within 20 seconds of the top-5 performers. Their top-7 is stealthily interchangeable, which will serve them well as the season progresses.