Linn-Mar senior Josh Evans is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Evans won the Class 4A state cross country title Saturday in Fort Dodge when he covered the 5K course in 15 minutes, 19.4 seconds for an 11-second victory.

Evans has captured the Triple Crown of distance running in Iowa during the past seven months with major titles at the Drake Relays, the Class 4A state track meet and the Class 4A state cross country meet.

He won the 1600-meter run at the Drake Relays and set a meet record in 4:10.86. Then he won the 3200-meter run at the state track meet in 9:13.34, anchored the distance medley to victory and helped Linn-Mar take the Class 4A state championship. He finished the Triple Crown Saturday in Fort Dodge.

Here is our Question-&-Answer session with Josh Evans:

MSR: What is your favorite individual highlight in sports?

JOSH: I think one of my favorite individual highlights was at the Dickinson Relays at the UNI-Dome my freshman year. My coach put me in the 1600 and told me to run with seniors Matt Stocker and Kyle Stocker from Prairie and Tyler Meseke from Pleasant Valley. They were some of the best 1600-meter runners in the state, so I couldn't believe it when he told me to run right with them.

My coach believed I could do it, and I decided to trust him. The race played out, and I raced my guts out trying to stick with them. They ended up destroying me over the last 400, but it was a huge PR for me and got me wondering how well I might be able to run. I think that was kind of a turning point for me because it was really the first time that I realized that I might be able to do something big with my running.

MSR: What has been your favorite team highlight in sports?

JOSH: My favorite team highlight was definitely singing "In the Jungle" after our track team won the state title last spring. Singing that song has been a team tradition for years, and it was so cool just seeing everybody come together and sing that to celebrate our season.

MSR: Who has had the biggest influence on your sports career?

JOSH: My biggest influences have been my parents and my coaches. My parents have been unbelievably helpful and supportive; I know I wouldn't be in the place I am without them. Kyle Hoffman, my distance track coach, was one of the first people to believe in me and has been a great mentor and friend over the past years. He coached me from having one of the weakest kicks ever to having a kick I can rely on to win the tight races.

MSR: What are your future goals in sports?

JOSH: I love the sport so much and really just want to continue running competitively in college. It would be awesome to be an All-American someday and hopefully run professionally if everything plays out right.

MSR: What are your favorite classes in school?

JOSH: There really isn't a whole lot I dislike in school. I'd say my favorite classes are either chemistry or anatomy. It's just so intriguing how it all works together.

MSR: What has been your favorite community service project?

JOSH: We did a food drive for National Honor Society during homecoming week and collected more than 2,000 pounds of food for HACAP, which was pretty sweet. Probably the funnest thing I do for volunteering is handing out water at the New Bo half marathon with my team. We have a great time cheering on all the runners and messing around together.