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by Tim Warsinskey/Plain Dealer Reporter

Monday February 09, 2009, 7:27 PM

CLEVELAND -- Mentor High School announced Monday it will leave the Lake Erie League and become an independent in athletics beginning in either the fall of 2010 or 2011.

Mentor gave its required two-year notice, but asked the LEL to release it one year early in 2010. League members did not act on the request at Monday's meeting.

The LEL's decision last spring to consolidate the 10-team, two-division league into one division in the fall of 2010 prompted Mentor to reconsider its options, Athletic Director Jeff Cassella said.

"From a competitive standpoint, we don't think that's in our best interest," Cassella said.

Mentor is Northeast Ohio's largest school with an enrollment of about 3,000 students in grades 9-12, and it could be a difficult conference fit.

"We want to be in a league, and right now there isn't any options, but we're going to test the waters," Cassella said. "We'll talk to anybody and we're interested in any affiliation."

The Northeast Ohio Conference is the only nearby league with similarly large schools, including Lakewood, Strongsville and Elyria. The NOC does not have a current expansion plan, but Stow, Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson are exploring the possibility of leaving the NOC, a league source said.

To the south, the eight-team Federal League is considering an expansion and Mentor has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but distance could be prohibitive. Some of its members include Canton schools McKinley and Hoover, Boardman, Austintown-Fitch and Uniontown Lake.

Being an independent means many scheduling headaches ahead for Mentor. Scheduling six nonleague football opponents has been a challenge in recent years and it played nine regular-season games in 2007.

Mentor has a longstanding rivalry with LEL member Euclid and has developed rivalries with Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights in several sports. Cassella said he hoped to continue those and other LEL relationships.

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by Tim Warsinskey/Plain Dealer Reporter

Monday February 09, 2009, 7:27 PM

CLEVELAND -- Mentor High School announced Monday it will leave the Lake Erie League and become an independent in athletics beginning in either the fall of 2010 or 2011.

Mentor gave its required two-year notice, but asked the LEL to release it one year early in 2010. League members did not act on the request at Monday's meeting.

The LEL's decision last spring to consolidate the 10-team, two-division league into one division in the fall of 2010 prompted Mentor to reconsider its options, Athletic Director Jeff Cassella said.

"From a competitive standpoint, we don't think that's in our best interest," Cassella said.

Mentor is Northeast Ohio's largest school with an enrollment of about 3,000 students in grades 9-12, and it could be a difficult conference fit.

"We want to be in a league, and right now there isn't any options, but we're going to test the waters," Cassella said. "We'll talk to anybody and we're interested in any affiliation."

The Northeast Ohio Conference is the only nearby league with similarly large schools, including Lakewood, Strongsville and Elyria. The NOC does not have a current expansion plan, but Stow, Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson are exploring the possibility of leaving the NOC, a league source said.

To the south, the eight-team Federal League is considering an expansion and Mentor has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but distance could be prohibitive. Some of its members include Canton schools McKinley and Hoover, Boardman, Austintown-Fitch and Uniontown Lake.

Being an independent means many scheduling headaches ahead for Mentor. Scheduling six nonleague football opponents has been a challenge in recent years and it played nine regular-season games in 2007.

Mentor has a longstanding rivalry with LEL member Euclid and has developed rivalries with Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights in several sports. Cassella said he hoped to continue those and other LEL relationships.