They didn’t have the stars of 2012, but the Linn-Mar girls and boys cross country teams showed Saturday there is still plenty of talent running for the black and red.

Opening their season hosting the Linn-Mar Invitational, the Lions were in top form, sweeping both the boys and girls team titles over the course at Oak Ridge Middle School.

The girls, led by individual champion Amber Decker, held off Cedar Rapids Kennedy to win by 10 points. Linn-Mar’s boys were much more dominant, taking six of the top 10 places, including individual champion Tanner Rathje, to outdistance runnerup Cedar Rapids Washington by a wide margin.

Both teams enter the season with lofty expectations. The boys are top-ranked in Class 4A by the Iowa Track Coaches Association while the girls opened the season ranked second.

And both teams were without their leaders from 2012. Senior Josh Evans, a ninth-place finisher in last year’s state cross country meet and the top performer at last spring’s Drake Relays, sat out the meet with a slight Achilles injury. He is expected to miss one or two weeks with the ailment.

And it has been well-documented that 2012 state champion Stephanie Jenks opted to concentrate on swimming and the triathlon this fall and is not out for cross country.

Decker appears ready to take on the role of being the Lions’ top runner. The sophomore finished in 14:25, nine seconds better than runnerup Shannon Gorman of Washington.

“It felt really good,” she said. “I was really anxious and excited to go.”

The Lions had five of the top 10 finishers. Decker was a 10th place finisher as a freshman at state. She believes the team as a group can compensate for the loss of Jenks.

“I think as a total team we need to step up and show everybody that we are good and going to do the best we can,” she said.

Maddie Saville, also a member of last year’s state runnerup team, finished third. Freshman Deanna Newhouse was impressive in her varsity debut, taking eighth.

Linn-Mar Coach Todd Goodell said the girls’ team will likely be a work in progress throughout the season.

“We had some question marks coming in,” he said. “I think we had a pretty good outing for the first race. We have a lot of quality depth on the girls team.

“As the season develops, we’ll start to figure out who is really going to rise to the top," he said. "We have a lot of youngsters who are trying to figure it out, running in high school for the first time so it may be three-quarters of the way through the season before we really know who is going to be there in the top seven.”

Kennedy is ranked fifth in the state and gave the Lions a run. Allison Culver, Lauren Meyer and Alyssa Averhoff finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.

There aren’t as many questions when it comes to the Linn-Mar boys’ team. Evans is far from the only talented runner. Rathje, who won Saturday in 16:12, was 16th at state. Daniel Murphy, Michael Mather and Ryan Murphy were right behind their teammate.

Rathje said the Lions’ goal is simple.

“We’re really pumped for this year,” Rathje said. “We want to go for it, obviously. A state title is what we are looking for.”

Goodell admits that some of his other runners have been overshadowed by Evans. He is quick to point out that there is much more than Evans on the Lions’ roster.

“Josh is an elite-caliber runner, but we really have some top-quality depth,” Goodell said. “Our boys are ranked No.1 and you don’t get that spot without 5-6-7 other quality runners.”

Rathje says the team doesn’t get caught up in the attention given to Evans.

“It doesn’t really faze us,” he said. “We all have our own personal goals that we really want to go for this year.”

Goodell believes he has a much better idea of his top performers among the boys.

“We’ve got a really nice solid six-pack at the top that are very, very competitive,” he said. “The fight will be for that seventh spot and I’m sure that will change quite a bit before the end of the year."

LINN-MAR INVITATIONAL

GIRLS TEAM SCORING

1. Linn-Mar 31, 2. Kennedy 41, 3. Washington 81, 4. Xavier 94, 5. Jefferson 126, 6. Waterloo East 172.

TOP 10 FINISHERS

1. Amber Decker (LM) 14:25
2. Shannon Gorman (CRW) 14:34
3. Maddie Saville (LM) 14:51
4. Allison Culver (CRK) 14:57
5. Lauren Meyer (CRK) 15:04
6. Alyssa Averhoff (CRK) 15:14
7. Jenny Dickes  (CRX) 15:22
8. Deanna Newhouse (LM) 15:23
9. Katie Sommer (LM) 15:30
10. Morgan Garcia (LM) 15:30

OTHER METRO FINISHERS

LINN-MAR
11. Hanna Saville 15:34
13. Sydney Johnston 15:39

KENNEDY
12. Laura Feld 15:37
14. Alissa Meyer 15:59
28. Lauren Gifford 17:08
29. Katherine Nus 17:12

WASHINGTON
16. Morgan Stuckenschneider 16:06
17. Madison Stuckenschneider 16:09
22. Kristin MacKenburg 16:53
24. MJ Kamin 16:55
26. Brett Visser 17:01
27. Sarah Witt 17:07

XAVIER
18. Marinna Schroud 16:14
21. Addy Hoffman 16:53
23. Madeline Bailey 16:55
25. Hannah Chicchelly 16:56
30. Lydia Brown 17:18
32. Brady Hoffman 17:48

JEFFERSON
15. Megan Ely 16:02
19. Meredith Koenigsfeld 16:16
20. Sarah Hanna 16:26
34. Caleigh Meyer 18:30
38. Maddie Robinson 19:02
39. Anna Petersen 19:04
40. Jasmine Blue 19:08

BOYS TEAM SCORING

1. Linn-Mar 16, 2. Washington 59, 3. Kennedy 80, 4. Xavier 84, 5. Jefferson 137.

TOP 10 FINISHERS

1. Tanner Rathje (LM), 16:12
2. Daniel Murphy (LM), 16:17
3. Michael Mather (LM), 16:24
4. Ryan Murphy (LM), 16:28
5. Jacob Schmitt (CRX) 16:34
6. Jay Halverson (LM) 16:48
7. Ian Klopfenstein (CRW) 17:00
8. Greyson Dolezal (LM) 17:04
9. Sam Eck (CRW) 17:07
10. Ian Hoover-Grinde (CRW) 17:07

OTHER METRO FINISHERS

LINN-MAR
15. Jack Sanor 17:31

KENNEDY
11. Matt Stevens 17:13
13. Addison Furry 17:18
16. Derek Girling 17:34
18. Andrew Solloud 17:37
29. Hunter Schoenauer 18:10
41. Kobi Cowen 18:33
48. Tim Zange 18:41

WASHINGTON
12. Finbar Berry 17:17
26. Robbie Gearhart 18:06
37. Patrick Gorman 18:25
45. Sam McDermott 18:35
52. Wyatt Forster 18:48
54. Sam Kline 19:01

JEFFERSON
14. Jason Chung 17:28
44. Tim Bell 18:35
47. Christopher Haring 18:39
57. Nathan Prochnow 19:04
60. Matt Swenson 19:11
64. Nate Homan 19:30
65. Kane Kramer 19:32

XAVIER
17. Steven Culpepper 17:35
21. Luke Koechner 17:51
22. Jonathan Francois 17:58
33. Nick Koechner 18:13
38. Evan Gradoville 18:26
42. Evan Bednar 18:33