DUBUQUE - The Linn-Mar Lions were double-trouble for everyone else at the Mississippi Valley Conference cross country meets Thursday at the Dubuque Soccer Complex.

Linn-Mar senior Josh Evans, feeling good again after battling an Achilles tendon problem, won his race by 16 seconds and led the Lions to the MVC boys title.

And the Linn-Mar ladies, getting strong showings from Amber Decker and Maddie Saville, enjoyed their best performance of the season and claimed the girls crown.

"I feel real good," said a happy Todd Goodell, who coaches both squads.

Evans won a race in Aurora, Ill., two weeks ago, but Thursday's conference meet was his first in-state outing of the year. He's not quite 100 percent, due to an overall lack of training, but showed why he's ranked No.1 in the state despite a quiet fall.

Evans made his move toward the middle of the race, then blew everyone away. He was happy with the outcome and his time of 15 minutes, 19 seconds for the 5K outing, but said he used a lot of energy and probably will feel it tomorrow.

"Exhausted," he said when asked how he felt after the race. "The one thing I've noticed coming back from injuries, I don't have the strength."

The state meet is not until Nov. 2, so he has three weeks to get fully prepared for the biggest race of the season.

"If I tapered down, I think I could really rip out a fast time, but I'm just working to get my strength back up again," he said.

Evans normally sports a crewcut, but he hasn't had a haircut since June and looks like a new man with his longer locks. He said all of the Lions will get buzz-cuts after the regional meet Oct. 24, so he'll be showing a sleeker look for state.

On the recruiting front, Evans said he has visited Iowa State and Stanford and likes both schools. "It will be really hard to choose between the two of them," he said.

He also plans to visit Oklahoma State and is considering the Cowboys as well.

Prairie senior Mitch Pritts finished second Thursday in 15:35 as the Prairie Hawks and Linn-Mar Lions waged a fierce battle for the team championship. Prairie would have won the title, 19-21, if only four runners counted in the standings, but it's a five-man race and Linn-Mar grabbed the top prize, 42-58, thanks to No.5 man Ryan Murphy.

Pritts accepted his runner-up medal graciously, knowing Evans is one of the top distance runners in the entire midwest when healthy.

"I'm fine with it," he said. "I tried to push the pace a little bit, but he's obviously a step above everybody else."

Tanner Rathje, Michael Mather and Daniel Murphy finished 3-7-10 for Linn-Mar. Jake Moore, Isaiah Vlasek and Tysen VanDraska went 4-5-8 for Prairie.

The Prairie boys are ranked No.2 in Class 4A in the state and Linn-Mar is ranked No.6, but the Lions are a different team with Evans on course.

Likewise, the Linn-Mar girls are ranked No.8 in the state - behind No.5 Kennedy and No. 6 Iowa City West from their own conference - but the Lions had the superior team Thursday.

"I am so excited," said Decker. "It's what we've been trying to do all year. We've worked really hard to get to this point, and we always peak at the right moment."

Decker was relieved she ran so well.

"I feel really good," she said. "I've been kind of disappointed with my season so far. It's not where I wanted to be. I just feel like I could have been higher up in some places."

Goodell said Decker and the rest of the Lions ran a good, smart race.

"Our girls finally kind of broke out and ran a race we were hoping we could run," he said. "And so that was exciting, to see them do what we were talking about doing."

Ashlynn Yokom of Iowa City West won the 4K race in 14:19. Decker finished 12 seconds behind, nipping Shannon Gorman of Washington by one second for the runnerup spot. Saville placed fourth for Linn-Mar and Alyssa Averhoff took fifth for Kennedy.

Iowa City West finished second in the girls race and Kennedy was third.

MVC CROSS COUNTRY
At Dubuque Soccer Complex

GIRLS RESULTS
4K

Team Standings

1. Linn-Mar 52, 2. Iowa City West 69, 3. Kennedy 84, 4. Dubuque Senior 138, 5. Iowa City High 157, 6. Xavier 197, 7. Cedar Falls 206, 8. Dubuque Hempstead 211, 9. Prairie 229, 10. Washington 258, 11. Waterloo West 279, 12. Wahlert 287, 13. Jefferson 295, 14. Waterloo East 452.

Top 10 Individuals

1. Ashlynn Yokom, IC West         14:19
2. Amber Decker, Linn-Mar         14:31
3. Shannon Gorman, Washington     14:32
4. Maddie Saville, Linn-Mar       14:53
5. Alyssa Averhoff, Kennedy       14:56
6. Molly Shepherd, IC High        14:57
7. Sammie Sproul, Waterloo West   14:58
8. Emmie Skopec, IC West          15:01
9. Mary Arch, IC High             15:03
10. Jesse Skopec, IC West         15:06

Linn-Mar - 2. Amber Decker 14:31, 4. Maddie Saville 14:53, 11. Morgan Garcia 15:14, 16. Sydney Johnston 15:25, 19. Deanna Newhouse 15:29, 25. Maddie Mann 15:38, 32. Katie Sommer 15:50.

Kennedy - 4. Alyssa Averhoff 14:56, 13. Lauren Meyer 15:22, 21. Carolyn Stone 15:31, 22. Allison Culver 15:31, 23. Laura Feld 15:33, 40. Alli Meyer 16:10, 56. Kate Nus 16:23.

Xavier - 17. Jenny Dickes 15:27, 24. Emiko Coffey 15:37, 26. Addy Hoffman 15:40, 58. Marinna Schroud 16:26, 72. Madeline Bailey 16:54, 76. Hannah Chicchelly 16:55, 77. Sydney Oakley 16:56.

Prairie - 18. Cayla Renwick 15:29, 41. Katie Costigan 16:11, 43. Eilish Stanek 16:13, 63. Anna Rubsam 16:34, 64. Victoria Enyart 16:38, 69. Sarah Meyers 16:51, 86. Holly Wisnousky 17:50.

Washington - 3. Shannon Gorman 14:32, 39. Morgan Stuckenschneider 16:09, 55. Kristin Mackenburg 16:23, 80. Madison Stuckenschneider 17:18, 81. Sarah Witt 17:19, 82. MJ Kamin 17:31.

Jefferson - 31. Meredith Koenigsfeld 15:48, 46. Sara Hannah 16:15, 47. Megan Ely 16:15, 84. Caleigh Meyer 17:40, 87. Jasmine Blue 17:51, 88. Maddie Robinson 17:53, 94. Lucy Schneekloth 18:49.

BOYS RESULTS
5K

Team Standings

1. Linn-Mar 42, 2. Prairie 58, 3. Cedar Falls 72, 4. Hempstead 118, 5. Iowa City West 137, 6. Dubuque Senior 141, 7. Iowa City High 162, 8. Xavier 230, 9. Washington 242, 10. Wahlert 256, 11. Waterloo West 281, 12. Kennedy 306, 13. Jefferson 392, 14. Waterloo East 454.

Top 10 Individuals

1. Josh Evans, Linn-Mar       15:19
2. Mitch Pritts, Prairie      15:35
3. Tanner Rathje, Linn-Mar    15:40
4. Jake Moore, Prairie        15:41
5. Isaiah Vlasek, Prairie     15:42
6. Mark Fairley, Dubuque Sr.  15:42
7. Michael Mather, Linn-Mar   15:44
8. Tysen VanDraska, Prairie   15:44
9. Jon Specht, Hempstead      15:45
10. Daniel Murphy, Linn-Mar   15:58

Linn-Mar - 1. Josh Evans 15:19, 3. Tanner Rathje 15:40, 7. Michael Mather 15:44, 10. Daniel Murphy 15:58, 21. Ryan Murphy 16:28, 43. Jay Halverson 16:54, 45. Greyson Dolezal 16:55.

Prairie - 1. Mitch Pritts 15:35, 4. Jake Moore 15:41, 5. Isaiah Vlasek 15:42, 8. Tysen VanDraska 15:44, 39. Connor Neuhaus 16:51, 49. Ross Adams 17:01, 53. Cam Steffens 17:03.

Xavier - 30. Steven Culpepper 16:40, 31. Jacob Schmitt 16:40, 32. Luke Koechner 16:42, 68. Johnathan Francois 17:39, 80. Jacob Herndon 18:10, 87. Evan Bednar 18:35.

Washington - 23. Finbar Berry 16:29, 28. Sam Eck 16:37, 50. Ian Klopfenstein 17:02, 70. Wyatt Forster 17:46, 71. Ian Hoover-Grinde 17:48, 76. Sam McDermott 18:04, 83. Patrick Gorman 18:26.

Kennedy - 38. Addison Furry 16:49, 57. Matt Stevens 17:08, 64. Hunter Schoenauer 17:22, 72. Kobi Cowen 17:51, 75. Ignacio Perea 18:02, 77. Ethan Williams 18:05, 78. Andrew Solsrud 18:09.

Jefferson - 66. Jason Chung 17:34, 73. Tim Bell 17:52, 82. Christopher Haring 18:22, 85. Nate Homan 18:28, 86. Nathan Prochnow 18:31, 88. Trey Hitchings 18:42, 90. Kane Kramer 18:46.