RIO RANCHO — There are those who wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Then there are the Hilltoppers of Los Alamos High School, who on their sleeveless left biceps wore a hand-written heart, the initials TS inside the heart and the word WITH above the heart.

"We put her on our arm so she could run with us," Holly Walker says of Teresa Sandoval, a state qualifier who missed Saturday's New Mexico High School State Cross Country Championships because of a late-in-the-week illness.

How late?

"We didn't know she wasn't going to run until Thursday," Walker said. "She's just the sweetest thing."

Sandoval, a freshman, couldn't even make the trip.

Yet, she crossed the finish line seven times, including five among the top-17 finishers, which secured the Hilltoppers' 14th state championship and their first since 2006.

"Reliving this is amazing," Walker said, "especially, with a new group of girls."

Walker, a senior, was part of the 2006 championship celebration. She wanted more than anything for her teammates to experience what she felt as a freshman.

It took 19 minutes, 40 seconds for Walker's wish to come true.

That was the time it took Victoria Honnell to complete the 3-mile course at Rio Rancho High School. Honnell, a junior, was the fifth Los Alamos runner to cross the finish line, which gave the Hilltoppers a team score of 47.

Albuquerque Academy had 15 points through three runners and 39 through four.

When Meredith Harrington finished 46th for the Chargers, the Hilltoppers caught Gallup for most career cross country titles among girls.

"They ran awesome," Kathy Hipwood, Los Alamos co-head coach, said. "We really wanted them to start intelligently, and they did a great job of figuring that out."

Walker knew she couldn't catch Julia Foster, Academy's wonderfully gifted junior. Foster was the lone runner to break 18 minutes of the four divisions, winning her second individual title in 17:48.95.

Walker, though, knew she was at least the equal to the other 126 runners. Make that better than the other 126 runners.

Walker finished second in 18:18.30.

"We're so thrilled for Holly," Hipwood, who shares the coaching duties with her husband, Robbie, said. "That was the most beautiful cross country race she's ever run."

Walker agreed. She never ran better. Neither did Foster.

"Julia is the most amazing runner I've ever met," Walker said. "Julia was the best one out there today.

"I just wanted to give it my all. I knew we were close. That made me run even harder. I kept hearing coach Hipwood yell, 'It's so close! It's so close!' "

The Los Alamos pack time between Walker and Honnell was 1:32. That pack included Jennifer Mooday in eighth, Emily Pittman in 11th and Megan Reader in 13th. Angie Hammer was the Hilltoppers' sixth runner, while Eliana Riciputi, who replaced Sandoval, was the team's seventh runner.

Walker didn't just draw strength from Sandoval and her teammates.

"I was excited by Kate winning," she said of Kate Norskog, the St. Michael's standout who captured her third Class AAA state title in the past four years. "Tess came and I just love Tess."

Tess, is Tess Amer, who helped St. Michael's to four straight team championships before graduating in 2009. Amer is now a triathlete at Colorado University, but remains Walker's best friend.

Prior to Los Alamos' championship performance, Zuni ended the St. Michael's reign. So did Santa Fe Indian School.

Zuni won its first title since 2002, back when the Lady Thunderbirds were competing in Class A-AA.

Zuni placed four runners in the top 17 and amassed the low score of 64. Santa Fe Indian School, which ran second to St. Michael's at the District 2AAA meet a week ago, took second with 71. The Lady Horsemen were third with 85.

"I knew if we had a good race we'd be right there," John Grimley, Santa Fe Indian School head coach, said.

They were because of Marlinda Pecos, who finished fourth, Jennifer Willie, who ran 13th, Barbara Abeita and Ashley Quam, who placed 25th and 31st, respectively, and Olivia Mermejo, who trailed Norskog and only Norskog.

Well, at the finish.

Mermejo was fourth with less than a mile to go, less than half-a-mile to go, less than
400 yards to go. Between the run in front of the football locker room, the right-hand turn into the football stadium and the final 50 yards, Mermejo passed Allycia Gashytewa, of Zuni, and Pecos.

"She seems to shine at state," Grimley said of Mermejo. "She came out of nowhere. She ran a relaxed race and let her talent flow.

"Everyone stepped up and did their job."

Pecos, the Lady Braves' top runner all season, was happy for her team and her teammate.

"She's been close all season," Pecos said of Mermejo. "For us to get two of the top four is really good."

Sophia Torres, of Pojoaque Valley, is familiar with top finishes. In her five-year varsity career, Torres owns a pair of sevenths, one fifth, one second and one state championship in 2007. Her fifth came Saturday.

"That's quite a career," Allan Lockridge, Pojoaque Valley head coach, said of his senior. "I can think of only one better at our school, Jacquelyn Gallegos."

Gallegos is a three-time state champion, beginning in 1997 when cross country was divvied into three races.

Another three-time champ is Irena Ossola, of St. Michael's. With a season left for Norskog, Ossola's school record is in jeopardy.

"It's always exciting," Norskog said of reaching the finish first. "There's nothing like the first time, but this is something I really wanted to do all season."

Norskog never felt healthy — until Saturday. And while she didn't want to discuss what she went through, she did find time to reflect.

"It's definitely been an amazing run," she said of her team's fourpeat.

Lenny Gurule agreed.

"It's hard to win that first one," Gurule, St. Michael's head coach, said. "It's harder to stay on top. But they set the standard high for the rest of the teams in our class.

"All our girls ran PRs today. The better team flat-out won. We've got a good group coming back. I don't see why they won't be working hard next year."

Particularly, with Norskog as the leader.

Norskog won her first individual crown as an eighth-grader. She suffered through mononucleosis as a sophomore, then posted the second-best time of any girl a year ago.

Last year, it was Clara Milne, of Albuquerque Academy, who ran the top time. This season, it was Foster, who became her school's first individual champion in 2006 as an eighth-grader.

"In ninth grade, I was injured and it was sad to see the race go by," Foster said. "As a sophomore, it wasn't my year, either. This year, I've been doing really well. I ran faster today than I did at the Rio Rancho Jamboree and met my goal."

The wait, from eighth-grade wonder to junior champion, was worth it.

"I didn't really know how great it was to do that," Foster said of winning state as an eighth-grader. "I was blind to how difficult it was to sustain it. Every year, there are a lot of great girls. It just makes you appreciate it that much more when you win it again."

Walker's comments were a photo-finish to her bookend gold.

"I'm really honored, really humbled," Foster said. "For other people to say that about something I love is exciting."

Santa Fe Preparatory had its enthusiasm curbed in the A-AA race, while Santa Fe High did not in the AAAAA race.

Santa Fe High's Medora Allison finished 30th and Kara Shain crossed in 38th in their state debuts. After two miles, both were out of the top 50.

"In the last mile, they both made up about 20 places," Peter Graham, Santa Fe High head coach, said. "They both did very well."

Santa Fe Prep also shone individually. But after three runner-up showings in the past three seasons, the Blue Griffins were a distant fourth behind Bosque School, Navajo Pine and Peñasco.

"We didn't have the perfect team race today, but we had a lot of good individual races," Jody LeFevers, Santa Fe Prep head coach, said.

Tessa Schultz and Molly Quay-de la Vallee finished within .70 of a second of each other, crossing in a respective 17th and 18th place in 21:04.90 and 21:05.60. Acadia Brooks provided the most pleasant surprise, running 22nd in 21:21.25.

Marcella Sanchez, in eighth, and Victoria Vasquez, in 12th, led Peñasco.

Bosque's victory snipped Navajo Pine's three-year championship sting. It was Bosque's first state title in cross country.

Haliey Lucero, of Mesa Vista, was the top Northern New Mexico runner, finishing seventh in 19:43. Caroline Kaufman, of East Mountain, successfully defended her individual championship in 18:35.60, becoming her class' first back-to-back winner since Janice Tosa, of Jemez Valley, in 2001.

Kaufman, a sophomore, will be back next season.

The Hilltoppers are hoping with all their hearts that a healthy Sandoval will be too.