NTL CROSS COUNTRY: NORTH PENN-MANSFIELD'S KNEFLEY IS DISTRICT IV CHAMP, GARVERICK MAKES STATES (October 29, 2026)

By Chris ManningNorthern Tier West Sports Report
BLOOMSBURG — NP-Mansfield's James Knefley laid in wait for much of the District IV, Class AA Boys Cross-Country race on Thursday, and his patience paid off as he out kicked Wyalusing's Wyatt Laubacker to claim gold.
"It feels amazing," Knefley (16:08.9) said after the race. "It was a lot of hard work for this."

He'll be joined at states by Leila Garverick as the two runners from Southern Tioga.

Laubacher pushed the pace early, getting nearly as much as a 10 second lead on the chase pack.

"I kind of had an idea they might take it out hard," said Knefley. "I was just going to run my face, and if it worked out, it worked out, which it did."

He slowly closed the gap during the second mile, and after the final hill had come shoulder to shoulder with Laubacher.

"I was surprised but I also knew I had a lot of work to go because I was hurting, and he was too, so it was hard," said Knefley. "I knew we were both struggling, and I knew there was a chase pack coming, so I figured I'd sit with him and rip it out half a mile to go."

Knefley took a lead during the final lap around the intramural fields, only for Laubacher to fight back.

Once they made the turn at the backstop, though, it was Knefley's race to lose.

"I was running scared," he admitted as he took a peak over his shoulder at one point. "I have a problem with that, I need to fix it, but I was scored for sure."

However, once they got into the final 100 Knefley knew it was his.

"It's always close at the line, so you've just got to go until you get there," he remarked.

This will be his third time down at states, so he's hoping to come away with some hardware.

"I want to get a state medal, that'd be awesome," he said. "Top 10 would be awesome, but we'll see how it plays out."

As a team they took ninth with 231 places.

David Graff (17:32.8) was 19th, Braden VanLoon (19:03) took 57th, Isaiah VanLoon (19:54.3) was 71st, and Alexander Mahosky (21:21.40) finished 95th.

In the Class AA girls race Garverick (19:48.2) took seventh overall to puck her ticket to states.

"It feels really great," said Garverick. "I've felt really good this whole season, and I felt myself progress, so I felt really good about going back my second year."

Garverick was the third individual qualifier, and also the third NTL runners to cross the finish line.

"I was a little scared at first because we didn't know what two teams were going to qualify," she explained. "We had a pretty good idea."

Her goal was to stay with the Danville pack - she finished less than a second behind Danville's Odin Ryer.

"I just went from there and ran my race," Garverick said. "The hill got me a little bit, but I heard a lot of the audience cheering so I thought another girl was coming behind me so I just picked up the pace and finished."

The sophomore is now 2-for-2 at districts in qualifying for states.

"I'm just grateful that I get to go to states again," Garverick said. "Whatever happens is going to happen and I'm very grateful."

They were 13th as a team with 299 points.

Kara Barrett (23:43.9) was 46th, Carolyn Cherwinski (26:40.3) came in 80th, Maryn McCarthy (29:26.9) finished 92nd, and Bailey Smith (29:51.6) took 94th.

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