A week after running their longest race of the season, the San Bernardino Valley College men's cross country team finished its best race of the season so far.

SBVC's top five runners finished within 24 seconds of each other - all placing in the top 30 - for second place in the team competition at the Southern California Regional Preview meet at El Dorado East Regional Park in Long Beach. 

The Wolverines finished with 97 points, finishing behind Bakersfield College for the top team spot. The Renegades also had their top five finish in the top 30 in the individual results, with a 51 second gap between their first and fifth finishers.

Freshman Jacob Mendiola was the first to cross the line on the four-mile course for SBVC, stopping the clock at 20 minutes, 27.8 seconds, good for 13th overall. Vinnie Quiroz finished four spots behind, clocking in at 20:41.0.

The remaining three of the top five all came in quickly after that. Elijah McBroom edged out Chris Valderrama at the finish, with McBroom clocking in at 20:45.3 (23rd) and Valderrama finishing at 20:45.4 (24th). Fercis Torres finished six seconds later for 28th with a time of 20:51.4.

SBVC will now turn its focus to training, as the Wolverines prepare for the back half of their schedule. Their next scheduled race is Oct. 7 at the Chaffey Invitational, before running in the Inland Empire Athletic Conference championships on Oct. 20.