Report By LBCC’s Chris Ruiz

It was another great season for Long Beach City College athletics in 2008-09 as LBCC totaled 101.5 points to finish in 12th place out of 108 California schools in the final National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) Cup all-sport State Associations Division standings.
 
A college is awarded points based on its teams’ final positions in post-conference competition. Each college’s top-five men’s and top-five women’s team results count toward the school’s overall point total.
 
Leading the way for LBCC was the state champion men’s volleyball team that earned 20 points. The state runner up women’s water polo team picked up 19 points while the third-place men’s water polo squad was awarded 18 points.
 
Also earning points for the Vikings were women’s golf (12 pts.), baseball (10.5), men’s soccer (8.5), women’s cross country (8), and men’s golf (5.5).
 
South Coast Conference rivals Mt. San Antonio (168.5) and Cerritos (168) finished one-two in the 2008-09 final standings with Sierra (166.5) taking third.
 
Since the NATYCAA Cup’s inception in 2003, LBCC has finished among the state’s top 20 each season.
 
In 2005-06, Long Beach finished first thanks to four state championships and a state-record 174.5 points.
 
Year-by-year finishes for LBCC:
2003-04: 3rd, 135.5 pts.
2004-05: 5th, 138.5 pts.
2005-06: 1st, 174.5 pts.
2006-07: 9th, 119.5 pts.
2007-08: T-16th, 80.5 pts.
2008-09: 12th, 101.5 pts.
 
NATYCAA is the professional organization of two-year college athletic administrators and membership is open to all two-year institutions from throughout the country. The NATYCAA Awards were designed to recognize and reward overall program excellence at the two-year college level. The criteria for the State Associations division were developed by the CCCAA in conjunction with the California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA).
 
This is the sixth year that NATYCAA has sponsored a State Associations division. Sierra College captured the inaugural award in 2003-04, Fresno City College won the award in 2004-05, Long Beach City College claimed the top spot in 2005-06, Orange Coast College won in 2006-07, and Fresno City took the award for the second time in the 2007-08 seasons.