Set to begin his fifth season as the Cerritos College women’s water polo head coach, Sergio Macias led the team to its first state championship last year when they defeated cross-town rival Long Beach City College, 11-6 in the state championship game. The 2008 season saw the program break several records including their 31 wins, while they strung together a 22-match winning streak. They finished the season winning 26 of their final 27 matches. Additionally, three members of the team were named All-American, led by sophomore Stephanie Rosero, who was named the State Player of the Year, Southern California Player of the Year and South Coast Conference Players of the Year, which she earned for the second year in a row. She was joined by freshmen Natalie Peng and Yvonne Ruvalacaba, with two others earning All-Southern California honors. For his efforts in guiding the team to the state championship, Macias was named the women’s water polo State Coach of the Year and the South Coast Conference Coach of the Year.

Since his arrival on campus, Macias has put together a remarkable 106-24 (.815) record and the program has won or shared the last two conference championships, while they have won two of the last three conference tournament championships. During the 2007 season, the Falcons won their first Southern California Regional Playoff game in their first post-season appearance. The team finished with a 26-7 record in 2007 and Macias has guided his teams to over 20 wins in all four of his years. Macias opened his career in 2005 by guiding the program to their first 20-win season (21-11) and a third place SCC finish. It also marked the first season a Falcon player had been named All-American (Berlyn Sanchez). They followed that with their first-ever SCC Tournament title in 2006, with Macias being named the Coach of the Year and three All-American selections. Joining Sanchez were Daisy Carrillo, who was the conference’s MVP and Jeannette Diaz.. They advanced to the Southern California Regional Tournament in 2006 and concluded the season with a 28-3 mark, while during the season they won 19 matches in a row and won their first four tournaments in school history. In 2007, Stephanie Rosero was the team’ lone All-American selection, as the Falcons went 26-7 and shared the conference championship.

Macias is also the college’s women’s swim coach and has experienced a great deal of success. Just last season, he had two individuals (Jenel Lopez and Natalie Peng) and four relay teams earn All-American honors, while 13 of the school’s 19 school records were broken. The team won their first-ever conference championship and had 11 entries in the state championships. In 2007, the team finished third in the South Coast Conference Championships, while they came in 18^th place at the State Championships. The team had two entries competing in a total of five events, while five different school records were broken during the year. Both state entries were named All-Americans in two different events, as well. In his four seasons, Macias has led the team to a 20-8 conference record. Both Stephanie Rosero and Salina Mesa earned All-American times in 2008, with Mesa and Ashley Badali being named All-Americans in 2007. His first All-American came in 2006 when Hanna Anzai received the honor.

Macias came to Cerritos College with a successful background as both a coach and a player. He started his coaching career with one of the top club programs in the nation, Commerce Aquatics, where he also learned how to play water polo as a youngster. Macias then took over the Montebello High School water polo team who, at the time of his arrival, had only won one league championship for both the boy’s and girl’s varsity team. In a four-year span, Macias guided both the boy’s and girl’s water polo teams to three consecutive league championships. He led the boy’s water polo team to back-to-back C.I.F. Div III Championships and become the first sport in the school’s history to win back-to-back C.I.F. championships titles. He also led his girl’s team to the C.I.F. Division I semi-finals in 2005. Macias was named C.I.F. Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004, Los Angeles Times Coach of the Year 2003 and Whittier Daily News Coach of the Year 2004.

Macias played age-group club water polo with the City of Commerce where he had the privilege to participate in several Junior Olympics and Junior National Tournaments. At Bell Gardens High School, Macias helped lead his team to four consecutive league championships and back-to-back C.I.F. championships in 1995 and 1996. As a player, he earned the league’s Most Valuable Player, CIF Most Valuable Player, 1^st Team All-C.I.F., 1^st Team All-Southern California and 1^st Team All-American honors. While on the Bell Gardens High water polo team, one of his teammates was Brenda Villa, who is now his assistant coach and has competed in the last four Olympic Games. Macias was also a member of the USA National Youth Team in 1994. After graduating high school he attended Whittier College where he became the school’s first-ever water polo player to receive SCIAC Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore. While at Whittier College, he was named 1^st Team All-Conference, 1^st Team WWPA, and 1^st Team All-American. Macias graduated from Whittier College in 2001 with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Recreation.  He earned his Master of Science degree in Kinesiology at California State University of Los Angeles in 2005.

SERGIO MACIAS WATER POLO RECORD

                           Overall Record            Season Accomplishments 

2005 –                   21-11                       3^rd Place South Coast Conference
2006 –                   28-3                         Southern California Regional Qualifier
                                                            South Coast Conference Champions
2007 –                   26-7                         Southern California Regional Qualifier
                                                            2^nd Place South Coast Conference
2008 –                   31-3                         State Champions
                                                            3^rd Place Southern California Regional Playoffs
                                                            South Coast Conference Tournament Champions
                                                            1^st  Place South Coast Conference
TOTAL:                106-24 (.815)