Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Josh Evans runs away with title at Noelridge

Linn-Mar sophomore Josh Evans is turning the 2011 cross country season into his personal playground.

Evans ran away from the pack and won the Cedar Rapids Invitational by more than 23 seconds Thursday at Noelridge Park for his third major title this year.

He finished first at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational by 18 seconds, captured the Pleasant Valley Invitational by 34 seconds and set a personal best Thursday when he covered the 5 kilometers in 15 minutes, 44.73 seconds.

Evans has established himself as one of the top long-distance runners in the state this season with three convincing triumphs.

"Yeah. It's weird to think about it," he said. "It's a weird thought."

Evans was injured for part of the 2010 cross country season and did not run at the state meet. He placed eighth in the 3200-meter run at the Class 4A state track meet last spring as a freshman and now could have a shot at a state title.

"It would be fun to do that," he said.

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Smith beat bigger names for Linn-Mar award

Linn-Mar football coach Bob Forsyth announces the Players of the Week when the Lions get together on Mondays.

Everybody is eligible for the awards, but you might assume it would be tilted in favor of the "skill position" players like quarterbacks, tailbacks and receivers.

That being said, the winner of the first Offensive Player of the Week award at Linn-Mar was ...

Not quarterback Mark Atwater, who passed for three TDs and ran for another in a 35-10 victory over Jefferson on Aug. 29 ... And not receiver Andy Henry, who caught all three of those TD passes.

No, the winner of the Offensive Player of the Week award for the opening game was Dustin Smith, a soft-spoken offensive lineman who had a half-dozen pancakes against the J-Hawks. In football terminology, a pancake happens when a blocker flattens an opponent, like a pancake.

"Our guys take a lot of pride in that," Forsyth said. "He did a great job."

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Linn-Mar's dream is nightmare for Cougars, 42-14

Andy Henry had a dream.

In that dream, he grabbed the opening kickoff at new Linn-Mar Stadium and raced for a touchdown to help the Lions christen their $10 million park in style.

Dreams do come true.

Henry sprinted 95 yards with the opening kickoff Friday night and No.8 Linn-Mar squashed Kennedy, 42-14, in the first varsity football game ever played in the Lions' new den.

"Yeah, I definitely dreamed about it," he said. "But I didn't know I was going to return it like that. I don't think anybody got close to me."

Kennedy did not lay a finger on Henry, which is pretty much how it went all night for the struggling Cougars.

Linn-Mar (2-0) led 35-7 at halftime and ignited a continuous clock when it took a 42-7 lead with 5:53 left in the third quarter. This was a Mississippi Valley Conference blowout of major proportions before roughly 5,500 fans.

The Lions held Kennedy (0-2) to 123 yards of total offense and were three times better than the visitors. Linn-Mar finished with three times as many yards (369 to 123) and three times as many points (42 to 14).

"That's about as picture-perfect as you can put it," said Linn-Mar quarterback Mark Atwater. "We were clicking all the time. It was awesome, it was great."

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Megan Scott's spirit lives at new Linn-Mar Stadium

In the months before she died in May, Linn-Mar sophomore Megan Scott followed the progress of the new football stadium from her bedroom on the school's website camera.

"She loved school from the time she was in kindergarten," says her mother Stacy. "And she was so proud to go to Linn-Mar.

"Megan wanted to go to the first soccer game in the stadium last spring, but she was too sick. And she'd hoped to see the first football game there.

"She was so excited. The stadium was part of her future."

When the Lions play their first football game at the new stadium in their home opener Friday against Kennedy, Megan will be there, at least in spirit.

As a memorial to their 16-year-old daughter who died of a rare form of brain cancer, Stacy and her husband Robert donated an 1,100-pound  concrete Lion and a plaque with Megan's picture on it.

It rests in the northeast corner of the stadium, under the flag poles. The inscription reads, in part, "Fight like a lion ... make your dreams come true."

Her own dreams were dashed far too soon. But, Megan's mother says, "She'll always be a part of a place she loved."

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