Linn-Mar doubly Super in MVC

DUBUQUE -- Josh Evans hasn't seen a barber since June.

"Two weeks from tomorrow," he promised. "The day after the district meet."

Long-locked or clean-shaven, Evans is elite. As long as he's reasonably healthy. And there's your catch.

Evans pulled away to win the boys' individual crown, and Linn-Mar swept the team championships at the Mississippi Valley Conference cross country "Super" meet Thursday afternoon at the Dubuque Soccer Complex.

The girls scored 52 points behind the 2-4 finish of Amber Decker and Maddie Saville, outrunning Iowa City West (69) and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (84).

Evans' title paced the boys to a 42-point tally. Cedar Rapids Prairie was second with 58, followed by Cedar Falls (72).

"I knew (Prairie) was a serious threat," Evans said. "I love those guys; they're good competition."

Evans has been slowed this fall -- not by his full head of mane, but rather a balky Achilles tendon. Even so, he pulled away in the back half of the race to win it in 15:19. Prairie's Mitch Pritts was next, in 15:35.

"I'm exhausted," Evans said. "One good thing, I haven't had to pound it out every workout. And I still have plenty of speed."

Still ...

"Tomorrow's going to be an easy day," he vowed.

Linn-Mar and Prairie had four boys apiece in the top 10. The fifth runner was the difference: Linn-Mar's No. 5 was 21st, compared to 39th for the Hawks.

Tanner Rathje (third), Michael Mather (seventh) and Daniel Murphy (10th) backed up Evans. Prairie's Jake Moore, Isaiah Vlasek and Tysen Vandraska ran 4-5-8.

West had the top girls' runner in Ashlynn Yokom; her 14:19 effort was 12 seconds ahead of Decker. But the Lions had the top team, with five in the top 20.

"It's been kind of a rough season, but it seems the end of the season is always our best," said Decker, who passed Cedar Rapids Washington's Shannon Gorman at the tape.

"I've been waiting for that kick all year."

Yokom ran to the front immediately and wasn't threatened.

"Mentally, I just keep pushing myself, thinking somebody is catching up to me," she said. "It wasn't my best time. There were a lot of tight curves." 

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONFERENCE "SUPER" MEET

At Dubuque

GIRLS RESULTS

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

Individuals -- 1. Ashlynn Yokom (ICW), 14:19; 2. Amber Decker (LM), 14:31; 3. Shannon Gorman (CRW), 14:32; 4. Maddie Saville (LM), 14:53; 5. Alyssa Averhoff (CRK), 14:56; 6. Molly Shepherd (ICH), 14:57; 7. Sammie Sproul (WW), 14:58; 8. Emmie Skopec (ICW), 15:01; 9. Mary Arch (ICH), 15:03; 10. Jesse Skopec (ICW), 15:06; 11. Morgan Garcia (LM), 15:14; 12. Elly Tebon (DS), 15:19; 13. Lauren Meyer (CRK), 15:22; 14. Abby Harbin (DH), 15:24; 15. Emily Moes (DW), 15:24.

Linn-Mar -- 2. Decker, 4. Saville, 11. Garcia, 16. Sydney Johnston, 15:25; 19. Deanna Newhouse, 15:29.

I.C. West -- 1. Yokom, 8. E.Skopec, 10. J.Skopec, 20. Olivia Moore, 15:30; 30. Gabby Skopec, 15:45.

Kennedy -- 5. Averhoff, 13. Meyer, 21. Carolyn Stone, 15:31; 22. Allison Culver, 15:31; 23. Laura Feld, 15:33.

City High -- 6. Shepherd, 9. Arch, 36. Fanta Traore, 16:04; 45. Olivia Peterson, 16:15; 61. Soumba Traore, 16:30.

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.

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.

Washington -- 3. Gorman, 39. Morgan Stuckenschneider, 16:09; 55. Kristin Mackenburg, 16:23; 80. Madison Stuckenschneider, 17:19; 81. Sarah Witt, 17:19.

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.

BOYS RESULTS

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

Individuals -- 1. Josh Evans (LM), 15:19; 2. Mitch Pritts (CRP), 15:35; 3. Tanner Rathje (LM), 15:40; 4. Jake Moore (CRP), 15:41; 5. Isaiah Vlasek (CRP), 15:42; 6. Mark Fairley (DS), 15:42; 7. Michael Mather (LM), 15:44; 8. Tysen Vandraska (CRP), 15:44; 9. Jon Specht (DH), 15:45; 10. Daniel Murphy (LM), 15:58; 11. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW), 15:59; 12. Timothy Sevcik (CF), 16:04; 13. Jared Failor (CF), 16:06; 14. Jonathon Smith (CF), 16:07; 15. Ryan Dorman (ICH), 16:16.

Linn-Mar -- 1. Evans, 3. Rathje, 7. Mather, 10. D.Murphy, 21. Ryan Murphy, 16:28.

Prairie -- 2. Pritts, 4. Moore, 5. Vlasek, 8. Vandraska, 39. Connor Neuhaus, 16:51.

I.C. West -- 11. Gardarsson, 18. Akash Borde, 16:19; 26. Wynton Karanja, 16:32; 35. Abdallah Ali, 16:48; 47. Nick Feeley, 17:00.

City High -- 15. Dorman, 20. Chris Ohrt, 16:26; 33. Jarrett Purdy, 16:46; 42. Rasheem Shivers, 16:52; 52. Joel Bender, 17:02.

Xavier -- 30. Steven Culpepper, 16:40; 31. Jacob Schmitt, 16:40; 32. Luke Koechner, 16:42; 68. Jonathan Francois, 17:39; 69. Nick Koechner, 17:43.

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.

Kennedy -- 38. Addison Furry, 16:49; 57. Matt Stevens, 17:08; 64. Hunter Schoenauer, 17:22; 72. Tim Zange, 17:51; 75. Ignacio Perea, 18:02.

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.