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.

Evans stands just 5-foot-7 and maybe 112 pounds, but he's been a tower of strength in the distance races. He toured the opening mile in about 5 minutes Thursday, then pulled away from the field during the second mile and won easily.

"I can keep a pace going pretty good," he said.

With no runners around to push him, he set his sights on the small vehicle that leads the way around the course.

"I was trying to chase down the go-cart," he said, smiling. "It didn't work."

Evans said he did not anticipate winning the race so easily. "I was looking to try and be in the top-2, but I didn't expect it to be like this," he said.

Evans looked a little wobbly after the race as he came through the chutes, but quickly recovered after grabbing a cup of water.

"I was dying there," he said. "I was thinking they were going to blow by me. I guess I just held on.

"All the different people cheering on the course helps a lot, too."

Evans said he's looking forward to a meet in Pella on Sept. 17, when he anticipates racing against Cole Decker of West Des Moines Dowling. Decker finished fourth at the state cross country meet last fall.

"He's an excellent runner," Evans said. "It would be fun to go beat him."

Ames won the team championship in the boys race with 81 points. Cedar Rapids Washington finished second with 89 markers, thanks to a strong 2-3 finish by Etienne Nzoyisaba and Robert Hogg.

Linn-Mar placed fourth in the 19-team field. Prairie was sixth, Kennedy 10th, Xavier 13th, Marion 14th and Jefferson 15th.

Lukas Meeks of Marion finished in 10th place in 16 minutes, 36.88 seconds. Ryan Glanz of Linn-Mar ran 11th, Jacob Aune of Prairie 12th, Trevor Oates of Kennedy 14th and Mitch Pritts of Prairie 15th.

Iowa City High won the title in the girls 4-kilometer race with 49 points. Linn-Mar finished second in the 15-team field with 61 points, placing three runners in the top-10.

Carolyn Newhouse led the Lions in third place, followed by Morgan Uridil in seventh and Brooklynn Kascel in 10th.

Kennedy placed fifth in the girls race, Washington was seventh, Prairie eighth, Xavier 10th, Marion 13th and Jefferson 15th.

Bettendorf runners finished 1-2 with Anna Peer the winner in 14:42.55 and Mahnee Watts second.

Katie Wampole of Kennedy placed 14th and Bree Gaster of Prairie was 15th.

CEDAR RAPIDS INVITATIONAL
At Noelridge Park

BOYS TEAM STANDINGS

1. Ames 81, 2. Washington 89, 3. Iowa City West 90, 4. Linn-Mar 103, 5. Bettendorf 159, 6. Prairie 175, 7. Wahlert 210, 8. Iowa City High 212, 9. Waterloo West 261, 10. Kennedy 286, 11. Muscatine 295, 12. Davenport Central 337, 13. Xavier 338, 14. Marion 352, 15. Jefferson 403, 16. Davenport West 427, 17. Pleasant Valley 459, 18. Davenport North 548, 19. North Scott 593.

Top 10 Individuals (5k)

1. Josh Evans (L-M) 15:44.73; 2. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW) 16:08.05; 3. Robert Hogg (CRW) 16:08.70; 4. Matt Butler (BETT) 16:17.12; 5. Jack Espeset (Ames) 16:18.82; 6. Isaac Jensen (ICW) 16:25.61; 7. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW) 16:30.14; 8. Anthony Ohl (WW) 16:31.40; 9. Michael Hart (ICH) 16:35.45; 10. Lukas Mees (MAR) 16:36.88.

WASHINGTON: 2. Etienne Nzoyisaba 16:08.05; 3. Robert Hogg 16:08.70; 25. Joe Berry 17:11.47; 26. Laurent Hakizimana 17:14.16; 33. Jon Rockwell 17:20.21.

LINN-MAR: 1. Josh Evans 15:44.73; 11. Ryan Glanz 16:40.10; 20. Daniel Murphy 17:01.91; 31. Keegan Cook 17:18.93; 40. Bryce Poellet 17:31.27.

PRAIRIE: 12. Jacob Aune 16:41.39; 15. Mitch Pritts 16:55.26; 35. Zach Waite 17:21.49; 56. Christian Counts 17:54.02; 57. Walker Thompson 17:54.98.

KENNEDY: 14. Trevor Oates 16:45.44; 19. Ryan Walker 16:58.98 62. Austin Trotter 18:06.40; 88. Seth Kirkegaard 18:40.56; 103. Zach Grobstich 19:00.92.

XAVIER: 22. Ben Schueler 17:05.18; 60. Grant Hunt 18:04.65; 78. Daniel Pape 18:29.70; 81. Connor Marks 18:32.12; 97. Jacob Schmitt 18:50.19.

MARION: 10. Lukas Mees 16:36.88; 52. Cole Kuethe 17:48.75; 74. Peter Rethwisch 18:24.94; 99. Isaac Smith 18:55.86; 117. Colton Forster 19:49.94.

JEFFERSON: 30. Taylor Mueller 17:17.39; 80. Devin Stone 18:31.18; 87. Maverick Guyer 18:39.09; 98. Ky Kramer 18:54.45; 108. Jason Chung 19:22.04.


GIRLS TEAM STANDINGS

1. Iowa City High 49, 2. Linn-Mar 61, 3. Iowa City West 91, 4. Bettendorf 98, 5. Kennedy 107, 6. Ames 164, 7. Washington 195, 8. Prairie 207, 9. Wahlert 216, 10. Xavier 289, 11. Muscatine 318, 12. Davenport West 385, 13. Marion 414, 14. North Scott 436, 15. Jefferson 440.

Top 10 Individuals (4k)

1. Anna Peer (BETT) 14:42.55; 2. Mahnee Watts (BETT) 15:03.49; 3. Carolyn Newhouse (LM) 15:09.86; 4. Meg Richardson (ICH) 15:19.13; 5. Ashlynn Yokom (ICW) 15:20.93; 6. Molly Leveille (ICW) 15:23.40; 7. Morgan Uridil (LM) 15:27.16; 8. Courtney Bruns (ICH) 15:27.86; 9. Harper Beasley (ICH) 15:28.26; 10. Brooklynn Kascel (LM) 15:29.17.

LINN-MAR: 3. Carolyn Newhouse 15:09.86; 7. Morgan Uridil 15:27.16; 10. Brooklyn Kascel 15:29.17; 19. Maddie Saville 15:52.44; 22. Rachel Perry 16:00.13.

KENNEDY: 14. Katie Wampole 15:40.99; 18. Allison Culver 15:50.74; 23. Alyssa Averhoff 16:00.84; 24. Aliza Lichty 16:01.84; 28. Tara Mittelberg 16:10.06.

WASHINGTON: 21. Shannon Gorman 15:58.47; 31. Colby Bjornsen 16:21.74;  38. Katie Karamitros 16:37.11; 51. Morgan Stuckenschneider 16:57.91; 54. Anna Kline 17:02.97.

PRAIRIE: 15. Bree Gaster 15:42.87; 37. Beth Heims 16:36.86; 46. Amanda Weyer 16:47.96; 50. Anastasia Jordan 16:57.06; 59. Maddie Rainey 17:08.62.

XAVIER: 42. Allison Pitz 16:39.22; 56. Sarah Chicchelly 17:07.06; 62. Marinna Schroud 17:14.65; 64. Kim Leskovec 17:15.96; 65. Ann Glavan 17:17.71.

MARION: 71. Alexis Timp 17:35.80; 77. Ellen Cannon 17:58.97; 78. Tara Zumwalt 17:59.62; 92. Sarah Mork 18:50.31; 96. Abby Kolarik 19:09.93.

JEFFERSON:  73. Rachel Sedlacek 17:39.06; 81. Michelle Zikes 18:14.06; 91. Burgart Carson 18:46.72; 94. Bethany Polansky 19:07.25; 101. Rachel Broghammer 19:21.33.