AMES, Iowa – Iowa State director of track and field and cross country Martin Smith announced the signing of Josh Evans, the top recruit in the state of Iowa, this morning. Evans, the winner of three Iowa high school state titles, signed his National Letter of Intent to run for the Cyclones Wednesday.
Evans attends and competes for Linn Mar High School, where he has already amassed three state championship titles, two of which coming at the 2013 Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships. At the state championships, Evans captured the 3,200-meter title in just over 9 minutes and 13 seconds, crossing the line more than three seconds ahead of the next finisher. The future Cyclone also anchored the Lions’ distance medley squad to a victory. Evans led Linn Mar to the team title, accounting for 34 of the team’s 72 total points.
Evans added to his resume this past fall, winning the 4A state title in cross country. He ran the 5-kilometer race in 15:19.40 and finished an overwhelming 11 seconds ahead of the runner-up finisher. In three years of cross country, Evans has yet to finish outside of the top-10 at the state meet.
The Iowa prep star has proven that no stage is too big in his young career. Evans took home the Drake Relays title last spring in the 1600m in a Drake Relays record 4:10.86. The mark broke the previous record held by Steve Griner (4:11.57) that was set back in 1979. The stellar performance earned Evans the Robert Kramme Award, recognizing him as the most outstanding performer in boys’ high school competition.
Smith was thrilled to sign one of the state’s top targets.
“We’re very excited about adding Josh to our program,” Smith said. “It is always very significant for a new coach to attract the most talented and successful runners in the state. Studying Josh’s athletic profile, he represents the main attributes necessary for our program to develop into a sub- 4 minute mile powerhouse. Josh possesses all the intangible qualities necessary for building a strong foundation and culture for our program.”
Evans is the second-fastest returning miler in the nation, as Iowa State has now signed the top miler in the state of Iowa in back-to-back seasons (Jason Thomas, 2013). Evans also finished 16th at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional Championships back in November, competing against the best talent from across the region.
In his recruiting, Evans chose Iowa State over national powers Oklahoma State and Stanford.
Evans is starting his senior campaign for Linn Mar track and field and will look to add to his already impressive resume.
