What started out as a lark for Amanda Blain has become a full-bore passion for the Mankato East junior.

Back in middle school, Blain had some friends in the cross country program who convinced her to come out for the team. She did and admits she had a blast as a seventh grader.

Although she had yet to develop into a competitive runner, she enjoyed the camaraderie with her teammates and decided to stick with the program. When she returned as an eighth-grader, her times started dropping and Blain was hooked. She blossomed into a serious runner and her times have gradually dropped all through high school.

“I still love the connection with all my teammates,” she said last week. “Now I just train a lot harder. We all want to be successful, not just for ourselves, but for each other, too.”

One of Blain’s main goals this season is to remain healthy. As an eighth grader she missed her section meet because of pneumonia. Last year, as a sophomore, she wasn’t feeling well but ran in the section meet anyway and, by her own standards, sort of bombed.

“I got a call from the doctor later that day and he told me I had strept throat,” Blain said. “At least I knew why I sucked so bad in the section meet but I was still disappointed.”

Head coach Neil Paarmann agreed that health has been an issue for Blain.

“She had some success early last year but then she started having problems and they seemed to carry into the offseason a little bit,” he said. “But right now she looks like she’s in top form.”

Blain would like to qualify for state this year and figures she’ll need to get her times down to the low-to-mid 15-minute mark (around 15:30).

“I’ve been in that range already,” she said. “I just need to start doing it more consistently.”

Although only a junior, Paarmann says Blaine is a very capable leader.

“She not only leads by example with her hard work in practice but she’s very organized, too,” he said. “She helped arrange all the captain’s practices and helped put together a fund raiser for us, too.”

Joining Blain in the top group of returning runners this year are sophomore’s Emily Ludwig and Sara Lundgren, eighth-grader Bailey Thompson, junior Bethany Murray and seniors Kiersten Lee and Marian Hayes.

Ludwig finished 13th in the section a year ago while Lundgren is making the transition from sprinter in track to distance in cross country. Thompson finished 10th in the Big Nine Meet as a seventh-grader and Lee is a co-captain along with Blain.

One newcomer who may challenge for a spot in the top seven is freshman transfer Lexy Keckhafer from Forest Lake.