Linn-Mar Boys Cross Country

Lions run away with Linn-Mar Invy

The Linn-Mar High School cross country teams dominated their own invitational at Lowe Park in Marion Saturday morning.

The Linn-Mar girls swept the top five spots in their race for a perfect score of 15 points to easily outdistance the six-team field. The Linn-Mar boys nearly duplicated the feat by sweeping the top four spots in their race.

Amber Decker sped to victory over the 4K girls course in 15 minutes, 18 seconds for a 13-second victory over teammate Maddie Saville.

Dalton Gosch claimed top honors in the 5K boys race in 16 minutes, 27 seconds for a 19-second victory over teammate Ryan Murphy.

Read more...

Murphy runs away at Prairie Invy

The last time Daniel Murphy ran in a high school cross country race, he collapsed at the Class 4A state meet in Fort Dodge and ended up in a hospital.

Saturday was much, much better.

Murphy ran away with top honors at the 30th Prairie Invitational and shattered the meet record in 15 minutes, 26 seconds for the 5K course.

The Linn-Mar senior beat Tysen VanDraska of Prairie by 11 seconds in the field of 17 schools and 119 individuals.

"I was not expecting that, honestly," Murphy said after his convincing victory. "Me and Tysen were battling a lot. I'm going to take it. It's a P.R. (personal record)."

Murphy was one of the top runners for the Linn-Mar varsity last year as a junior, but he suffered from dehydration and perhaps a virus at the state meet and finished 115th and last in 19 minutes, 43 seconds.

Read more...

Josh Evans will run at Iowa State

Linn-Mar senior Josh Evans took official visits to Stanford and Oklahoma State, but the premier prep distance runner in Iowa has decided to stay home and run for the Iowa State Cyclones in college.

Evans informed the Metro Sports Report of his decision Sunday night.

"I decided last night," he said. "I kind of had it in the back of my mind and I went with my gut feeling. I'm super excited."

Read more...

Evans runs 8th at Nike regional

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Linn-Mar senior Josh Evans placed eighth out of 257 runners at the Nike Heartland Regional cross country meet Sunday at Yankton Trails Park in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Evans ran the 5K race in 15 minutes, 35.9 seconds. Addison Dehaven of Brookings, S.D., won the race in 15:08.9.

High school runners from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin participated in the event.

The Linn-Mar Running Club finished 10th out of 28 teams in the boys standings and 20th out of 35 teams in the girls standings.