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Now starting his fourth season, Joe Abing
has turned the Cerritos College men’s water polo
program into a state contender. Two seasons
ago,
Abing led the team to the South Coast
Conference championship and in the last two
years, a berth in the
state tournament. The team went 23-17 last
year and played one of the toughest schedule
in the state. But they won the games they
needed to in order to advance to the state
tournament, including a thrilling 7-6
overtime win over Grossmont College that
propelled them to the championships. Two
seasons ago, they rolled off a
school-record 18-game winning streak heading
into the Southern California championship
match, but then ended the season with a loss
to Golden West and then consecutive setbacks
in the double-elimination state tournament.
Regardless of that, the Falcons posted a
remarkable 26-7, which included two
tournament championships and two second
place finishes. For his efforts in leading
his team to their memorable season, Abing
was voted the Southern California Co-Coach
of the Year as well as the conference’s
Coach of the Year. Along with his water polo
duties, Abing also serves as the men's
swimming coach and has had great success
with the team. In continuing with his
remarkable season two years ago, Abing was
named the conference men’s swimming
Coach of the Year. In his first
season as the water polo coach, Abing
directed his team to an impressive 17-13
record and placement in the Southern
California Regional Playoffs. The Falcons
also won the Saddleback Tournament for the
first time in school history and had a
legitimate shot at winning 20 games. Of
their 13 losses that year, eight of them
were by one or two goals. Abing came to Cerritos
College after spending two seasons as the
head coach at Ventura College. He did a
solid job with the Pirates, leading them to
a 21-11 record in 2002 and helped them
advance to the second round of the Southern
California Regional Playoffs both seasons.
In addition to his duties at Ventura
College, he was the swimming coach at
Ventura High School since 1995. He also
handled the water polo duties at Ventura
High until 2000, before taking the job at
Ventura College.
Abing came in with great credentials and a
solid playing background. When he took over
the Ventura High water polo team, they were
coming off a 3-19 campaign. By the time he
left, Abing had guided his teams to three
Channel League championships, two CIF
Finals Championship appearances, coached six
All-Americans and was named the CIF Coach of
the Year in 2000. He also served as the
All-County All-Star Coach in 1998 and 1999.
As the swimming coach, he led the school to
their first two Channel League titles in
their history, had seven All-Americans and
one CIF champion.
Abing played water polo and competed in
swimming at South Pasadena High, where he
started on the 1989 CIF Championship water
polo team. While in high school, he was
named All-League, All-CIF and was named to
the San Gabriel Valley All-Star Team. He
moved on to Cuesta College, where he played
water polo and swam for Terry Bowen, who
swam and played water polo at Cerritos
College. As a freshman, the Cougars finished
second in the state and posted a 32-2
record. Abing decided to no longer compete
athletically when he moved on to UCLA, where
he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology
with a minor in Social Science in 1995. In
2002, he graduated from Azusa Pacific with a
“Masters in Education with an emphasis in
Physical Education.” In addition to his
duties with the men’s aquatics programs,
Abing also teaches a full load of physical
education classes. |
Glen Myer began his career
with the Cerritos College women’s water polo
program in its inaugural season in 1998 as
their head coach. Starting this season, he
will serve as an assistant with the men’s
program. During that time, he has also
served as the head coach of the women’s
swimming team. In addition, Myer has coached
water polo at Warren High and Fountain
Valley High, and at Gahr High, where he
coached both water polo and swimming.