RIO RANCHO — Antonio Varela smiled through tears.

Kyle Pittman and the Santa Fe Indian School Braves just smiled.

The best day of your life will do that to you.

Varela, a Pecos High School sophomore, and Pittman, a Los Alamos High School senior, and the Braves shared a course and a place at the New Mexico High School Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

The course was 3 miles in length and snaked around Rio Rancho High School before ending at the 50-yard line of the football stadium. The place was first, which Varela reached for the first time in Class A-AA, which Pittman reached for the second straight year in AAAA, which the Braves reached for the first time since 1995.

Pittman faced more pressure, both as defending champion and competing against Pat Zacharias, of Albuquerque Academy. Varela's path included Tim Chee, of Navajo Pine. Pojoaque Valley, Miyamura and Zuni stood between the Braves and victory.

Varela overcame another obstacle — himself.

"This whole thing is dedicated to God, Mario and my old coach," Varela said. "I can't believe it happened."

Before Varela's eyes started leaking, his heart opened to Sal Gonzales, who put Pecos High School on the cross country map before leaving his hometown for Rio Rancho High School two seasons ago.

Gonzales and Varela had a heart-to-heart in May at the Class A-AA State Track and Field Championships.

"We just talked about making good choices," Varela said.

The first was to rededicate himself to running. That's where Mario Armijo came in.

Armijo wrote school history when he became the first Panther to win individuals honors at the Class A-AA Boys State Cross Country Championships in 2007.

"Almost everything I know in running is from Mario and my old coach," Varela said. "This reminded me of old times, running with Mario."

Armijo graduated in 2008, but not before running second the year after his championship. Even in setbacks there are steps forward.

"It taught me to keep pushing, keep pushing, no matter what," Varela said. "I worked so hard since the end of school just so this could happen."

Chee wasn't about to go down without a fight. And he was good until the last sprint.

Varela and Chee took turns pushing the pace. Inside the final mile, Chee surged first.

"In the last part I was hurting so bad," Varela said. "When he made his move, I thought it was over. He has one of the best kicks out there. But I decided to go for it. I remember my old coach saying, 'Don't be afraid to try and be a champion.' "

He wasn't.

Neither was Chee.

Chee's heart had 3 miles in him. His legs came up 50 yards short.

"I tried to push it hard," Chee said. "When we entered the stadium, I didn't have anything left. But I tried."

Chee wanted everyone to know that Varela won, he didn't lose.

"For his size, he's quick," Chee said. "I have a lot of respect for him."

The admiration is equal.

"He's a great runner," Varela said. "He beat me twice during the season. There's no disgrace in losing."

Varela, who clocked a 5-minute, 8-second first mile, finished in 15:30.8. Chee crossed in 15:34.25. Troy Madalena, of Jemez Valley, was next in 16:32.00. It was Madalena who defeated Armijo a year ago.

Madalena, though, did celebrate a team championship, as Jemez Valley finished ahead of Peñasco and Pecos. Navajo Pine entered as four-time defending champion. The Warriors exited in fourth.

The word repeat remained in the vocabulary of Pittman, Albuquerque Academy and Albuquerque Cibola.

"I did feel more pressure," Pittman said. "All you can do is go out, run your hardest and whatever happens, happens."

What happened was at the 2-mile mark, Pittman surged around a couple blind corners.

What happened was a 10-second gap over the 6-foot-5 Zacharias, who pushed the pace from the start.

What happened was 14:59.60, the best time of the day and the only time under 15.

Zacharias crossed in 15:10.75. Before he caught his breath, four teammates were standing behind him after placing third, fourth, sixth and ninth.

It was the second straight team title for the Chargers and their 10th in the past 12 seasons. Los Alamos, state champion in 2007 and 2003, was second for the 10th time in past 12 seasons.

The final score was 24-40. That means Academy and Los Alamos combined to sweep 13 of the top 16 places.

Santa Fe Indian School and Pojoaque Valley weren't as dominant, but the District 2AAA rivals did run first and second.

Each team had three runners in the top 12. The difference came when Steven Mora finished 13th and Darrell Augustine ran 18th for the Braves, and Dominic Martinez was 29th and Jereme Santistevan was 31st for the Elks.

When the individual runners were removed, Santa Fe Indian School stood at 55 and Pojoaque Valley stood at 82.

"This is an unexplainable feeling," Mora said. "This was a dream come true for the whole team."

Trevor Merhege put the Braves in a winning positing by finishing sixth. Santiago Pasquale crossed in eighth and Jesse Madalena was 11th. It was the exact start Santa Fe Indian School needed, particularly after James Viarreal ran third for Pojoaque Valley, Daniel Santistevan was 9th and Sam Roybal was 12th.

"We wanted to work as a pack," Tyler Atencio, said. "We accomplished what we wanted to do."

Merhege concurred.

"We talked about running our own race," he said. "And when you feel good, make your move."

The move was from third last year to state champions this year.

"After last year, we knew we had the talent coming back," Mora said. "But we knew it would take a lot of hard work."

The effort was there.

"During the season, we never had a full team until right at the end," John Grimley, Santa Fe Indian School head coach, said. "It was either an injury, or illness, or something they needed to do at home. But they came together at the right time."

Yes, they did.

"Once again, we got beat by the better team," Allan Lockridge, Pojoaque Valley head coach, said. "We would have liked to have won, but we're not unhappy."

Really?

It's true.

"The boys ran their hearts out," Viarreal said. "We gave it our all. We were beat by the best."

It was somewhat of a double loss for Viarreal, the District 2AAA champion. Viarreal was in contention for individual honors through most of the race.

Viarreal pulled the pack though an opening 5:14 mile and was still the leader with a mile left. That's went Evan Bekes, of Bloomfield, took over the lead role and was quickly followed by Eric Fenton, of Albuquerque Hope Christian.

"I tried to catch a second wind and show them what I had," Viarreal said.

Instead, Bekes showed off his impressive kick, winning in 15:51.60. Fenton wouldn't be caught, either, crossing in 15:56.70. Viarreal stopped the clock in 16:07.75.

"Everything happens for a reason," Viarreal said.

He smiled.

Not through tears, but through the satisfaction that everything he had, he gave.

"We never gave up," Viarreal said.

Neither did Varela, when he trailed Chee.

Neither did Pittman, when he chased Zacharias.

Neither did the Braves, when they lost three times to the Elks during the regular season.

Not everyone had the best day of his life.

Not everyone was supposed to.

It was reserved for a select few, including one who showed how to smile through tears.