A solitary red-tailed hawk rode the breeze above the empty home bleachers at Green Hope High School recently. The bird flapped away as a surge of athletes in camouflage-style shirts with "GHXC" on the front and "An Army of One" on the back began to cross the land bridge into the stadium.

This was not the football team, which had come and gone, cleats scratching the asphalt, before half the approaching group had reached its destination.

This was the Green Hope cross country team, more than 200 strong, arriving for 10 minutes of instruction, praise and motivation from coach Mike Miragliuolo. At his side, every word was conveyed by sign language.

Before him had to be one of the largest, most diverse high school teams in the country.

"We're for everybody. And I mean everybody," said Miragliuolo, whose own shirt reads "All we need is all you can give."

Green Hope can use just 14 runners, seven boys and seven girls, in big meets, but the Falcons' program isn't geared to just the fastest, the most fit -- or the athletes who helped the boys earn a top-25 national ranking this year.

The 205 team members include the great and the far from great.

One runner carries a guitar, another has cerebral palsy.

One talks about a science experiment. A couple of others discuss a high-level math class.

Nearly all cheer when it is announced that they will play capture the flag after a Friday night pasta party. Everyone is invited.

To Carly Roos, a senior, everyone on this team is welcome.

"We're teammates," she said. "On our team, it isn't all about who is the fastest. Anyone can come out and join us."

But don't some of the better runners razz the less talented, the less dedicated?

"Why would somebody do something like that?" said senior Austin Gilmore. "There is nothing to be gained by doing that. Somebody who would do that would just be shunned. That's not who we are."

The attitude may seem as out of place in competitive sports as a hawk at a high school, but to the Falcons' runners, it seems right. They see the cross country team as a haven.

"When I started, one of my top priorities was that it had to be fun," said Miragliuolo, who knows every runner's name.

The philosophy has helped the program grow steadily -- 25, 45, 65, 100, 120, 160, 180 to 205 in his eight years -- and Miragliuolo doesn't see an end in sight.

There are 2,009 students in the school and more than 10 percent are on the cross country team. There are 65 freshmen on this year's team -- a record number. In a few more years, the ranks could swell to 250 or more.

"I used to think 100 was the limit. Then 150. Then 185. Now we're at about 205 and I don't see a limit," the coach said.

The squad has a family feel. Many of the runners have had older brothers or sisters on the team. There are four sets of twins and one set of triplets. Freshman Matthew Alexander had planned to play football, but instead joined his brother and sister in cross country.

"Everyone talked about how much fun the cross country team had," Alexander said.

Miragliuolo, 33, sometimes wonders if he can keep the program going at this pace. Last week, for example, he entered different runners in three different meets.

He has organized the team into 10 companies of 10 runners each for both boys and girls. The captains take roll and help convey the practice schedule.

It is a loose schedule. Miragliuolo might suggest the team run five miles, but he knows some of the team members can't run that far and that others might run at a faster pace. But don't let the team's diversity of athletes give you a false impression -- Green Hope has an elite program.

The Falcons boys were third in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4-A championships last year, ranked No. 1 in the state by the cross country coaches and are ranked No. 2 in the Southeastern United States by dyestat.com.

The Falcons defeated many of the top teams in the state, including 2007 4-A champion Broughton and 2007 runner-up Enloe, two weeks ago at the Wolfpack Invitational.

If having so many teammates hinders the progress of runners like Doug Black and Zak Roshdy, who were among the fastest in the state in 2007, Miragliuolo is willing to accept it.

"Ultimately, we make a sacrifice at the very top, but it is a small sacrifice that is well worth it as so many students have been able to have such a worthwhile experience," he said.

The key to the program's tremendous growth? The runners are all recruiters.

What separates the Falcons' program is who the team members recruit, and why.

Do you ask good runners, good friends or people who seem to need friends?

"Yes," said senior Sarah Wilt. "Yes. Yes. And yes."

A

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