High School Cross Country

BC’s Knobloch celebrates birthday by finishing first

LHAC cross counry championships

PORTAGE -- Wednesday was Bishop Carroll Catholic sophomore Noah Knobloch's 16th birthday, and he was determined to make it a sweet one.

The defending District 6 Class 1A cross country champion had lost to Hollidaysburg senior Reuben Manfred in a race last week and went into the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championships at Maple Crest Golf Course with some nerves based on that performance.

In the end, Knobloch got his birthday wish and a LHAC championship in 15:45.6, topping the third-place Manfred and Bellefonte runner-up Jonathan Gasper by nearly seven seconds.

"It made it so special," Knobloch said. "I was a little bit worried going into today, because last week (Manfred) beat me. I really wanted to try my best to get the win here today. I'm really happy it turned out that way. I'm grateful that when the opportunity came, I delivered."

Knobloch stayed back to start the race, and Central Cambria's Reed Takacs held an early lead, but Knobloch surged ahead of Gasper and Manfred on the second lap and slowly increased his lead up until the finish.

"I have built my training up a lot," Knobloch said. "I did a lot of training going into my freshman year, but I did a lot more this offseason than I had before. This year, it has all paid off. It has done a lot for me, and I'm grateful to be where I am right now."

Manfred, who finished in 15:52.9, less than a second behind Gasper, was disappointed not to win but has bigger goals.

"(This season has) been going really well," Manfred said. "I had a good summer of training that really helped. I won my first invite, which was really fun because of how long I have been in this sport. Today was just one of those races where the best man today won. It's cross country. Every course is different."

Manfred won the Ben Bloser Invitational at Big Spring High School, the site of the PIAA meet this season, earlier this year.

"I'm really excited for districts," Manfred said. "I will be using districts as a gateway to qualify for states, but my main target is states and trying to finish in the top 25 in triple-A."

Manfred's third-place finish helped Hollidaysburg edge Central Cambria for the boys team championship. Teammates Mason Kephart (sixth, 16:35.2), Jack Singer (12th, 17:06.3), Mason Klock (15th, 17:13.6) and Liam Cannarsa (19th, 17:31.4) also medaled.

Miles Doyle (fourth, 16:10.8) led a group of Central Cambria medalists that included Takacs (fifth, 16:23.5), Josh Bearer (17th, 17:24.4), Giles Westrick (18th, 17:26.9) and Lukas Miller (20th, 17:36.7).

On the girls side, Bedford's Chloe May took a dominant victory with a time of 17:43.0. Somerset's Emily Fisher was second in 18:13.9.

May, a senior, has distanced herself from several skilled long distance runners she was struggling to beat last year.

"I upped my mileage," May said. "I did more aerobic long runs and mainly focused on doing a race pace on my long runs."

Central Cambria cruised to the team championship on the girls side led by Jillian Wise's fifth-place finish in 19:18.7.

Paige Alexander (seventh, 19:31.1) led a group of four straight Lady Devil finishers followed by Delaney Snyder (eighth, 19:46.6), Abby Snyder (ninth, 19:55.6) and Makenzie Hite (10th, 20:01.1).

"We're excited to go to states and have an open mindset, and I think we can accomplish good things this year," Alexander said. "We're all very close this year. We have all been around the same times, so I think that will help us push each other in these final weeks."

Ruth Remillard (15th, 20:29.8) and Emerson Rakar (17th, 20:39.3) also medaled for Central Cambria.

Blake Pennington (13th, 20:20.3) and Julie Kraft (20:52.1) medaled for Bellwood-Antis as did Hollidaysburg's Addison Smith (14th, 20:22.4) and Sophia Fiore (20th, 21:10.6). Bishop Carroll's Abbey Hines was 16th in 20:35.0.

Central Cambria's Claire Stevens won the LHAC junior high girls championship with a time of 9:13.3, and Hollidaysburg's Charlie Fiore won the junior high boys title in 8:22.5.

BOYS

1, Knobloch, Bishop Carroll, 15:45.6; 2, Gasper, Bellefonte, 15:52.3; 3, Manfred, Hollidaysburg, 15:52.9; 4, Doyle, Central Cambria, 16:10.8; 5, Takacs, Central Cambria, 16:23.5; 6, Kephart, Hollidaysburg, 16:35.2; 7, Muchmore, Bellefonte, 16:53.7; 8, Williams, Bellefonte, 16:54.0; 9, Bolinger, Richland, 16:54.1; 10, Shaw, Forest Hills, 16:55.0; 11, Fyfe, Bedford, 17:00.3; 12, Singer, Hollidaysburg, 17:06.3; 13, Mehall, Forest Hills, 17:06.6; 14, Honn, Huntingdon, 17:12.4; 15, Klock, Hollidaysburg, 17:13.6; 16, Mayer, Penns Valley, 17:20.1; 17, Bearer, Central Cambria, 17:24.4; 18, Westrick, Central Cambria, 17:26.9; 19, Cannarsa, Hollidaysburg, 17:31.4; 20, Miller, Central Cambria, 17:36.7.

GIRLS

1, May, Bedford, 17:43.0; 2, Fisher, Somerset, 18:13.9; 3, Ascherl, Forest Hills, 18:15.9; 4, Mavridis, Richland, 18:31.5; 5, Wise, Central Cambria, 19:18.7; 6, Tucker, Richland, 19:24.3; 7, Alexander, Central Cambria, 19:31.1; 8, D. Snyder, Central Cambria, 19:46.6; 9, A. Snyder, Central Cambria, 19:55.6; 10, Hite, Central Cambria, 20:01.1; 11, Jacob, Clearfield, 20:13.3; 12, Shaw, Forest Hills, 20:18.8; 13, Pennington, Bellwood-Antis, 20:20.3; 14, Smith, Hollidaysburg, 20:22.4; 15, Remillard, Central Cambria, 20:29.8; 16, Hines, Bishop Carroll, 20:35.0; 17, Rakar, Central Cambria, 20:39.3; 18, Kraft, Bellwood-Antis, 20:52.1; 19, Price, Penns Valley, 20:57.3; 20, Fiore, Hollidaysburg, 21:10.6.