Joining the coaching staff for his first season is former Cerritos College water polo player and swimmer PJ Gabayeron. He served as an assistant coach at Cerritos High from 2014-19.

After a memorable Cerritos career, Gabayeron transferred to the University of Hawaii where he focused solely on swimming. As a senior, he placed eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke and ninth in the 200-yard IM at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, while he won the championship in the 200-yard breaststroke his junior year.

As a freshman water polo player, Gabayeron was named 2nd Team All-Southern California, 1st Team All-South Coast Conference and voted the team’s Defensive Player of the Year. Finished the season with 63 goals, 38 steals and 64 steals. During his sophomore season, Gabayeron was named one of the conference’s Tri-Players of the Year, as well as 1st Team All-Southern California. He finished second on the team with 68 goals, while he added 30 assists and 48 steals.

While on the swimming team for the Falcons, Gabayeron was named the Swimmer of the Meet at the State Championships his freshman year, while he set four individual school records and swam a leg of two relay school records. He earned All-American honors in three events, while he posted the second fastest time in the country in the 200-yard IM (1:52.33), 200-yard breaststroke (2:01.96) and had the fifth fastest time in the country in the 100-yard breaststroke at 56.59, which all won him state titles. Finished the season by being named the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Male Athlete of the Month for May, 2010. Gabayeron also set the school record in the 400-yard IM at 4:14.97, while he swam a leg of the record-breaking 200-yard freestyle relay (1:27.65) and 800-yard freestyle relay (7:08.07) teams. He won the South Coast Conference championship in each of the events he won the state championship, while he also swam on the conference-winning 400-yard medley relay team.

During his sophomore season on the swimming team, Gabayeron was named all-American in three more events and concluded his career with five state championship titles. In winning the 200-yard breaststroke for the second year in a row, Gabayeron posted the fastest time in the country among community college swimmers with a time of 2:00.24. That time also set a new state and school record, while he also set a new mark in the 100-yard breaststroke along the way. His time of 55.68 was enough to win the state title and set a new school record, while it was the second fastest time in the country. Gabayeron, who finished fourth in the state championships with a school record time of 1:51.63 in the 200-yard IM, posted the fifth fastest time in the country.

He still holds the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke (55.68), 200-yard breaststroke (2:00.24), 200-yard IM (1:51.63) and 400-yard IM (4:14.16), as well as swimming the anchor leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay team’s school record time of 7:08.07.

While at Cerritos High, Gabayeron helped his team to three CIF Championships and was voted the school’s Athlete of the Year.

Gabayeron earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Hawaii in 2014. Gabayeron, 32, is single and resides in Buena Park.