It was a memorable year for Long Beach City College, with plenty of highs and lows for the Vikings’ athletics programs.
The year began with a fun day for LBCC fans, as the Philadelphia Eagles and LBCC alum Bryan Braman won a shocking Super Bowl, the first in franchise history. Braman had the game’s final tackle, a piece of history that immediately became a part of Long Beach sports trivia. Even better for LBCC fans, Braman brought his Super Bowl ring to Veterans Memorial Stadium in a homecoming to remember.
Braman said that LBCC was an important stop on his journey, as he came to the Vikings after a season at Idaho.
“The coaches here helped me to focus on my goal and to get my grades right and get ready for life at the next level,” he said. “I would never have made it without them.”
The spring featured championships for both LBCC volleyball programs. The men’s volleyball team was dominant and ranked No. 1 in the State for almost the entire season, blasting their way to a conference championship and an easy state playoff win before being upset in the state semifinals.
The Vikings’ beach volleyball program continues to thrive under head coach Misty May-Treanor. The beach team won a conference championship as well, and even played host to the conference tournament at Granada Beach.
It was a frustrating year for the LBCC football team, always the most visible program at Long Beach’s junior college. The Vikings came into 2018 having won three consecutive championships and made four consecutive bowl appearances. The team was snakebit by injuries this year, losing double-digit players to season-ending injuries, with their already-thin front lines affected particularly heavily.
There was still some good news in the fall, however, as May-Treanor led the school’s women’s volleyball indoor team to a conference championship and made some postseason history. LBCC won a state playoff match and hosted a second-round state match for the first time in more than two decades, a match they ended up losing in thrilling fashion in five sets.
The winter is off to a great start for the college, with both men’s and women’s programs showing conference championship-type potential at the end of the year.
