After a week where training was difficult due to the fires that surrounded the Inland Empire, the San Bernardino Valley College men's cross country team headed to the beach to get some fresh air and competition.

And the time off didn't keep the Wolverines from finishing near the top of the field at the Golden West College Central Park Classic in Huntington Beach.

Three members of the SBVC squad finished in the top 15, helping push the Wolverines to third overall in the team standings in the event, held Sept. 20.

Vinnie Quiroz continued his torrid start to the season, finishing third in the field with a time of 20 minutes, 49.77 seconds, just one second out of second place. Not far behind him was Kevin Nava, who crossed in sixth place at 20:55.63 - six-tenths of a second out of fifth place. Elijah McBroom finished 15th, stopping the clock at 21:23.36.

After the top three, the Wolverines were spread out after that. Nick Juarez finished 26th with a time of 21:44.25, and farther back were Zach Calderon and Noah Townsend, who finished together in 48th and 49th at times of 22:14.16 and 22:14.58, respectively.

Eight members of the Wolverines now are preparing to run in the Cal State San Marcos Cougar Challenge 8K race this weekend, before the whole team runs in the rescheduled So Cal Preview meet Oct. 4 at Chaffey College.