Sports Illustrated's Marisa Miller

1980 was a great year because it gave us the wonderful Marisa Miller, who was born in the coastal city of Santa Cruz, California, on the northern part of Monterey Bay, a little more than an hour south of San Francisco.

In high school, Marisa was a star volleyball player. In fact, in her junior year, thanks to her position as outside hitter, her team never lost a game during the entire season.

Another sport she had a passion for was surfing. Even though this activity is more associated with Southern California, there was no way Marisa could do without it.

She drove south in 2001 to enjoy the bigger waves of Santa Barbara, and her entire future changed forever. Famous fashion photographer Mario Testino happened to be on the beach and he spotted her.

Mesmerized by Marisa and her singular appeal, he took some pictures of her. As it had been the case with Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, who was discovered in the same manner, Marisa was offered a chance to become a model.

Her mother Krista encouraged her to pursue this profession by saying, "You can always go back to school, but you can't always model." Stimulated by these words, Marisa took the plunge.

Like everyone else, she had to start at the bottom, so she became a nude model for Perfect 10 magazine. Soon after, she was offered the opportunity to appear within the pages of the 2001 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

Obviously, this secured her place within the modeling industry. As a result, Victoria's Secret knew she would be a great sight in lingerie and hired her to model undergarments for its catalogs.

Other companies also took advantage of her newfound popularity. Marisa has since worked on publicity campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, J.Crew and Nordstrom.

With her stock rising, her face was seen on the cover of magazines like Vogue, Fitness and Shape. It's no wonder Sports Illustrated called her back for the 2003 and 2004 Swimsuit Editions.

Recently, Marisa was inspired by her mother, who returned to college to become a nurse and fulfill her dream of working in pediatrics. This made Marisa understand that modeling isn't forever, and that she should set her sights on a career in which she can grow old.

After her in-demand status in modeling subsides, Marisa intends on returning to university to get a proper education. In fact, Marisa, who now lives in the Californian town of Calabasas, would love to be a sportscaster someday.