Long Beach City College pointed up after blockbuster 2015-16 year

After the retu of a familiar face at athletic director, Long Beach City College teams won seven conference championships and two state titles in the 2015-16 year, a season that saw only three Vikings teams miss the playoffs.

Randy Totorp, who played and later coached men’s volleyball at LBCC and was the school’s interim AD from 2011-2013, was brought back in a permanent position last August and helped guide the Vikings to many triumphs in his first season.

Third-year football coach Brett Peabody continued his impressive tuaround of the program with a 10-2 record, a SCFA National Central League title (the Vikings’ first since 2011) and a Southe Califoia Bowl win over Cerritos. At one point, the Vikings were the No. 1-ranked team in the country. LBCC fell to Saddleback in the Southe Califoia Championship game, but the team’s 10 wins was its best mark since 1998.

“Football set the tone for us,” Totorp said. “That was a lot of fun to be a part of.”

LBCC men’s water polo went 24-5 and undefeated in conference play en route to its 10th state championship. Four of the team’s losses came at the hands of Golden West, including a 10-7 loss in the SoCal Regional Championship. But the Vikings had the last laugh with a 12-11 overtime win in the state championship, its second in three years.

Men’s volleyball, another pereially successful Vikings program, also added to its championship count. LBCC lost its first two matches of the season but did not drop another contest the rest of the way, wiing 21 straight matches and the program’s ninth state title.

Like men’s water polo had earlier in the year, volleyball also avenged its losses in its title run. By beating Golden West in the state semifinals and Orange Coast in the championship match, LBCC got the better of both the teams that had defeated it at the start of the season.

“Culturally within our department it’s nice to have those programs that have paved the way,” Totorp said of men’s water polo and volleyball. “You can almost take it for granted, but you’re still excited every time they reach that level.”

While fans have come to expect titles from men’s water polo — their conference championship was the 13th in the past 15 years — and volleyball, they also saw men’s soccer win the South Coast Conference for the first time since 2006. And after not having won the SCC since 2010, women’s water polo also retued to the top of the conference this year.

Men’s basketball finished in second place in the SCC South and missed the playoffs, but women’s basketball captured the SCC South conference championship. They reached the state elite 16 before being defeated by Irvine Valley.

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On the diamond, coach Casey Crook became the wiingest baseball coach in school history and finished the season with 533 wins to his name. In the process, the Vikings went 16-5 in the SCC and won their third consecutive conference championship.

Earlier this month, the Texas Rangers drafted Vikings outfielder and pitcher Tai Tiedema in the eighth round of the MLB draft, making Tiedema the highest drafted LBCC player in mode history.

“We have our program success, but the biggest thing for us is our student-athlete success. That’s what really excites us,” Totorp said.

Along with Tiedema, eight LBCC football players signed letters of intent to continue playing at four-year colleges, including Mat Boesen (TCU), Josh Fatu (USC), JJ Allen (Arizona) and London Iakopo (Louisville).

But Totorp is perhaps most proud of what’s happening off the field, like the athletes moving onto four-year colleges on the strength of their academics. He also points to the hiring of Misty May-Treanor as the school’s director of volleyball, the hiring of Peabody to a full-time position, and the plaed renovations to Veterans Stadium as boding well for the future.

“The general feel right now is just really positive,” Totorp said. “I am extremely happy with the athletic department and the year we just had.”