FARMINGTON – After more than three miles running on trails in the woods, across fields and, in some cases, through streams, it’s easy to understand why some high school athletes don’t go out for the cross country running team.

In some cases, schools find it hard to fill a full roster of runners. Those schools would be thrilled to see 15 eager runners at that first meeting of the year, running shoes in hand asking where to sign.

This year, Mt. Blue, a school with a rich tradition in cross country running and track and field, got those 15 runners – from one class.

“Often what happens here, it’s really hard to get freshmen, for whatever reason,” coach Kelley Cullenberg said. “They come in, and either they do another sport, or they don’t do anything. Then, they’ll do track in the spring as a freshman, and the deal is done.”

This year’s sophomore class is a perfect case in point.

Last year, Cullenberg had just four freshmen – Brody Hines, Josh Hiltz, Jaron Jones and Alex Allen.

This year, of the 12 new sophomores out for the team, five of them ran spring track as freshmen.

“We had a lot of kids … who didn’t run cross country last year, but did track, and they enjoyed working under our coach (Kelley Cullenberg), and liked the team atmosphere,” Jones said.

Some of the athletes, like Gwen Beacham, just didn’t feel like they had the time.

“I felt I was just too busy with other things going on,” Beacham said. “In the spring, something made me do track, and I liked it, so I found room in my schedule.”

Others, like Shelby Aseltine, are transplants from other endeavors.

“I used to play soccer,” Aseltine said, “but I’m a nordic skier, too, and I didn’t feel like I was getting maximum benefit out of playing soccer for ski season. Plus, I had a lot of friends on the cross country team.”

That, the runners said, more than most other factors, is what helps grow the program.

“It’s kind of a positive peer pressure,” Beacham said. “It’s a great atmosphere, and when your friends are here doing it, it makes you want to join them.”

And while Beacham and Aseltine – two of the new girls on this year’s team – will likely contribute to the team’s overall success, it’s not about the glory. In fact, with such a large team, a small percentage of the runners will actually factor in to race-day scoring.

But that doesn’t seem to matter, either.

“Cross country, a lot of people do it because it’s generally a sport that’s quite a bit of fun,” Jones said. “Not a lot of people join cross country planning to do well anyway, honestly.”

And that’s fine with Cullenberg, who this year has a set of captains willing to participate in the development of those runners, to help coach and teach those who haven’t raced competitively before.

“To have motivated leaders who are good runners and who want everyone to be part of the team is awesome,” Aseltine said. “They’re always willing to reach out to help you.”

So, too, Aseltine said, is Cullenberg, who in her own right is a big reason Mt. Blue’s cross country numbers have skyrocketed.

“She has a way of really getting you into running,” Aseltine said. “It’s a blast.”