Linn-Mar sophomore Josh Evans is not merely the top cross country runner in the Mississippi Valley Conference anymore.

He's now one of the best runners in the state and has been ranked No. 1 by the Iowa Track Coaches Association the past two weeks.

Evans showed why Tuesday when he won the Linn-Mar Invitational at the Tuma Soccer Complex by 29 seconds.

Evans vaulted to the No. 1 spot in the state rankings after a strong second-place showing Sept. 17 at the Heartland Classic in Ames, where he beat runners who had been ranked 1-2 in Iowa.

Evans climbed from No. 3 to No. 1 in last week's rankings based on that strong performance in Ames and stayed No. 1 in this week's poll. He's just a sophomore and still only 15 years old, yet he's already considered the top distance runner in Iowa.

"It's pretty cool to see that," he said Tuesday after winning the Linn-Mar Invitational in 15 minutes, 34 seconds over the flat 5-kilometer course. "It will be fun the next couple of years."

Cole Decker of Dowling Catholic had been ranked No. 1 in the state, but Evans beat him by 16 seconds at the Heartland Classic.

"I was pretty amazed," Evans said. "I'm figuring he probably had some kind of an off-day. I did not see that coming. I figured he'd be right with me.

"I was really nervous," he said. "I was thinking he was going to run away with it. I kept waiting for him to make a move. He's going to be right with me at state, I know that much."

The state meet is scheduled for Oct. 29 in Fort Dodge.

Ben Anderson of West Des Moines Valley was ranked No. 2 in the state prior to the Heartland Classic, but Evans beat him by eight seconds. Anderson stayed No. 2 in the rankings and Decker fell to No. 3.

Evans finished second in the Heartland Classic, finishing behind a runner from Minnesota. It became a battle for second place among Evans, Decker, Anderson and a few others.

"It was a lot of fun," Evans said. "It was a great course. We had a good battle going between me and Cole and Ben Anderson for 2 1/2 miles.

"I just pulled away around one turn and the guy from Minnesota caught me, but it was really a lot of fun. It was a great course to run on."

Evans has won all of his races this fall against Iowans, mostly by wide margins.

"At the start of the season I didn't see this coming," he said. "But now I'm just thinking I need to be with the front group and I just go from there."

He's looking forward to competing for a state title next month and possibly winning the race.

"I hope so," he said. "I'm definitely looking to contend for that, for sure."

There were only five schools in the Linn-Mar Invitational Tuesday, and all the guests ended up chasing Linn-Mar.

The Lions won the boys title with 37 points, trimming Prairie (45) and Washington (52). Jacob Aune of Prairie finished second and Robert Hogg of Washington was third.

Carolyn Newhouse led the Linn-Mar girls to their title by winning her 4-kilometer race in 14 minutes, 56 seconds. She beat teammate Rachel Perry by 22 seconds. The Lions finished 1-2-3-4-6 to run away with the team title.

LINN-MAR INVITATIONAL
Tuma Soccer Complex

Boys Team Standings

1. Linn-Mar 37, 2. Prairie 45, 3. Washington 52, 4. Marion 92, 5. Xavier 141.

Girls Team Standings

1. Linn-Mar 16, Prairie 58, 3. Washington 66, 4. Xavier 95, 5. Marion 142.

Boys Top 10
5K

1. Josh Evans (LM) 15:34, 2. Jacob Aune (CRP) 16:03, 3. Robert Hogg (CRW) 16:08, 4. Mitch Pritts (CRP) 16:08, 5. Chase Grabau (LM) 16:23, 6. Lukas Mees (MAR) 16:28, 7. Laurent Hakizimana (CRW) 16:34, 8. Daniel Murphy (LM) 16:37, 9. Zach Waite (CRP) 16:39, 10. Bryce Poellet (LM) 16:42.

Girls Top 10
4K

1. Carolyn Newhouse (LM) 14:56, 2. Rachel Perry (LM) 15:18, 3. Morgan Uridil (LM) 15:18, 4. Brooklynn Kascel (LM) 15:20, 5. Shannon Gorman (CRW) 15:24, 6. Maddie Saville (LM) 15:33, 7. Bree Gaster (CRP) 15:50, 8. Caitlin Novak (LM) 16:13, 9. Beth Heims (CRP) 16:21, 10. Anastasia Jordan (CRP) 16:26.

Boys Teams

Linn-Mar: 1. Josh Evans 15:34, 5. Chase Grabau 16:23, 8. Daniel Murphy 16:37, 10. Bryce Poellet 16:42, 13. Kyle Read 17:05, 14. Tanner Rathje 17:06.

Prairie: 2. Jacob Aune 16:03, 4. Mitch Pritts 16:08, 9. Zach Waite 16:39, 12. Isaiah Vlasek 17:03, 18. Christian Counts-Chopli 17:20, 23. Walker Thompson 17:42, 25. Derek Wheatley 18:03.

Washington: 3. Robert Hogg 16:08, 7. Laurent Hakizimana 16:34, 11. Joe Berry 16:44, 15. Matt Wittman 17:07, 16. Jon Rockwell 17:12, 17. Trevor Luebe 17:13, 24. Blair Burdt 17:48.

Marion: 6. Lukas Mees 16:28, 19. Cole Kuethe 17:25, 20. Greg Sam 17:32, 21. Peter Rethwisch 17:37, 26. Isaac Smith 18:22, 28. Jordan Garthwaite 18:45, 30. Colton Forster 19:05.

Xavier: 22. Luke Koechner 17:42, 27. Hunter Wille 18:36, 29. Evan Bednar 18:59, 31. Brandon Gradoville 19:27, 32. Bryce Volk 19:33, 33. Jacob Herndon 19:43.

Girls Teams

Linn-Mar: 1. Carolyn Newhouse 14:56, 2. Rachel Perry 15:18, 3. Morgan Uridil 15:18, 4. Brooklynn Kascel 15:20, 6. Maddie Saville 15:33, 8. Caitlin Novak 16:13, 13. Sydney Johnston 16:37.

Prairie: 7. Bree Gaster 15:50, 9. Beth Heims 16:21, 10. Anastasia Jordan 16:26, 15. Amanda Wever 16:46, 17. Maddie Rainey 16:55, 22. Brittney England 17:27, 27. Anna Rubsam 17:43.

Washington: 5. Shannon Gorman 15:24, 11. Katie Karamitros 16:28, 14. Morgan Stuckenschneider 16:45, 16. Madison Stuckenschneider 16:52, 20. Anna Kline 17:06, 24. Kylie Coutentos 17:31, 28. Taylor Temple 17:46.

Xavier: 12. Sarah Chicchelly 16:30, 18. Ann Glavan 17:00, 19. Marinna Schroud 17:00, 21. Lauren Smith 17:27, 25. Haylee Burns 17:32, 29. Kim Leskovec 17:47.

Marion: 23. Ellen Cannon 17:30, 26. Tara Zumwalt 17:36, 30. Alexis Timp 18:02, 31. Grace Ehlinger 18:11, 32. Michaela Jacobs 18:12, 33. Sam Livingston 18:27, 34. Abby Kolarick 18:28.