Irvin, who was a tennis star at Harvard-Westlake High and Stanford, turned pro after her sophomore collegiate year and appears to have a bright future on the women's tour.

The Santa Monica College women's soccer team opened its season with a 7-1 victory over College of the Desert at John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica.

Vivi Bustamante scored four goals.

Quarterback Chris Griffin, one of the stars of St. Monica High's CIF championship run two seasons ago, will start at QB for SMC in the team's football opener Saturday night against Antelope Valley. The game at Corsair Field will begin at 7 p.m. Griffin has returned from a year at Fort Hays College in Kansas.

Both Samohi, St. Monica Rated 8th in CIF Polls

By Mitch Chortkoff

When high school football play begins Friday both local teams will be favored to have successful seasons.

In the first CIF Poll of the year, Santa Monica High was ranked 8th in Division 10 and St. Monica 8th in Division 11.

The rankings mean that rival coaches and Southern California area sportswriters respect the potential of these teams. As Santa Monica moves from the Bay League to the Ocean League forecasters believe the Vikings can be a strong team at that level.

St. Monica is also respected even though it went 1-9 last season. The belief is the team had talent but was beseiged by injuries. And that is still has talent.

Santa Monica will open at home Friday night (7 p.m.) against University. New coach Norm Lacy, who arrives from St. Monica, says he wants to build a strong running game. But the passing of junior quarterback James Cooper will also be important.

St. Monica has a new quarterback, Ben Agatep, who is a fine athlete. He starred on the baseball team after gaining experience as the Mariners' junior varsity quarterback last season.

Randy Robinson takes over as head coach after serving as an assistant when Lacy guided the program.

Depth could be a factor for Samohi. There was a large turnout of more than 100 prospects and Lacy has a big offensive line and some key reserves.

It's different at St. Monica, where annually less than 30 players turn out. Although there's talent the team cannot afford major injuries, as it suffered last season.

One of the team's best athletes is Marcus Shelby, who has played running back but may be primarily a pass receiver this season. He's 6-foot-5 and also a basketball star.

St. Monica will open at its home away from home, St. Bernard High, Saturday night against Venice.