Cerritos College sophomore men's water polo goalie Michael Skinas (La Serna HS) was named the South Coast Conference Co-Most Valuable Player, while head coach Joe Abing was named the Coach of the Year, as the team had nine players honored. Skinas shared the award with Long Beach City College's Michael Carrillo. The Falcons, who qualified for the state championships after winning the conference championship, had five players named to the 1st Team, while three were named 2nd Team and two others received honorable mention recognition.

Skinas, whose 329 saves entering the state tournament rank #2 in the state and set a new single-season record, is the fourth straight Falcon to earn at least a share of the SCC Player of the Year award and the first goalie. Abing earned his third Coach of the Year Award, with the other two coming in 2004 and 2005 when he took his teams to the state tournament.

Joining Skinas on the 1st Team were sophomores Christian Flores (Montebello HS) and Chad Castro (Whittier HS), along with freshmen Miguel Garcia (Montebello HS) and Christian Cordova (Montebello HS). Flores, an All-Amercian selection in his freshman year (2006), has scored 82 goals on the season after accounting for 102 as a freshman and has added 56 assists and 38 steals. His 184 career goals are second in school history and his 106 career assists ranks third. Castro, a 2nd Team selection as a freshman, followed up by scoring 40 goals to go along with his 23 assists and 46 assists. Garcia has set a new school record with his 126 goals, and has added 47 steals and 43 assists. He broke the old record of 103 goals by Danny Garcia in 2001. Cordova has posted 24 goals, with 13 assists and 25 steals on the season.

On the second team were sophomore Rafael Romero (Montebello HS), as well as freshmen Albert Kim (Cerritos HS) and TJ Tigerina (Bell Gardens HS), with sophomores Daric Johnson (Whittier HS) and Davey Brown (Whittier HS) being named honorable mention. Romero is third on the team with 53 goals, while his 63 assists are sixth-most in a season, while Kim (38 goals, 39 steals) and Tigerina (43 goals) have been offensive threats for the Falcons.

Photo by Daryl Peterson