Moreno Valley Faces Eligibility Inquiry

The Southern Section has contacted administrators at Moreno Valley High regarding the eligibility of one of its top football players, school and Moreno Valley Unified School District officials confirmed Thursday.

The inquiry centers on Chris Lopez, who transferred from Riverside Notre Dame last winter. He threw the discus for the Vikings’ track and field team in the spring before joining the football squad this season.

Lopez, a Division I prospect as a 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker, led Notre Dame with 138 tackles.

“We have had some conversations with [officials] at the Southern Section office,” said Mark Sewell, dean of students at Moreno Valley. “We’re following the district’s procedures regarding the behavior of our athletic programs and making sure we follow all the right steps.”

Dan Arritt

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Michael Poe of Etiwanda outkicked Erick Maldonado of Chino Don Lugo to win the boys’ sweepstakes race in the inaugural Inland Empire Challenge cross-country meet last year, but he won’t be running in this year’s edition of the meet at Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday. Instead, he’ll be taking the Scholastic Assessment Test at Chaffey College.

“You probably won’t see me in any big races until the [Mt. San Antonio College Invitational on Oct. 26],” he said.

Poe finished a disappointing--by his standards--15th in the invitational seeded race of the Great American Cross-Country Festival in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 28 and tripped and fell near the mile mark of the Division I race of the Yucaipa Invitational last Saturday.

John Ortega

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Woodland Hills Taft receiver Steve Smith will play against San Fernando in a nonleague game tonight after sitting out the last two weeks with a sprained left ankle.

Troy Starr, coach of the Toreadors, No. 8 in The Times’ rankings, said the senior has been practicing all week and that he was kept out of the lineup to avoid further injury. Smith, last year’s City Section player of the year, hurt his ankle and sat out much of the second half of a 39-0 victory over Carson.

Eric Stephens

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Carson girls’ tennis standouts Judith De Vera and Dianne Matias have committed to USC, both players said Thursday.

De Vera, The Times’ girls’ player of the year last season, is the defending City Section singles champion and led the Colts to two consecutive team titles. Matias, in her first year at Carson, is No. 2 in Southern California in the U.S. Tennis Assn. girls’ 18 rankings.

“It’s close to home, and some of the girls there, I’ve known for a long time from junior tennis,” Matias said.

Lauren Peterson