April 2008 Archives

Virginia Tech associate head wrestling coach Tony Robie was inducted into the Edinboro University Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday night at the 27th Annual Hall of Fame Awards Banquet at McComb Fieldhouse. The 10 new members bring the Edinboro Hall of Fame membership to 183 inductees.

The 2008 inductees include: former baseball standout Brad Aurila; former football standout Mike Barnes; Bob Kaufman, who made his mark in wrestling; Tyrone Mason, a former men's basketball standout; former football player Jeremy O'Day; Stephanie Radecki, a former volleyball standout; and former wrestling standouts Tony Robie and Jason Robison. In addition to the eight student-athlete inductees, the Athletic Hall of Fame will induct Jim Camp as the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, and Jack Swope as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. 

For the entire story, click here.

Local sports talk show host Rick Watson will broadcast his “Big Dog Sports Talk” from Tech Softball Park Tuesday as the 18th-ranked Hokie softball team hosts East Carolina in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. This marks the second year in a row Watson will broadcast a show from the TSP and the show can be heard locally on 101.7 FM.

Watson, along with other media, will be on hand as senior All-American Angela Tincher goes for career strikeout No. 2,000. She needs 13 punchouts Tuesday to reach the mark in what could be her final home appearance.

As always, Jerry Massey will have the call on hokietv.com. Audio and video will also be available on a pay-per-view broadcast on ACC Select, as well. Live stats can be found here.

Tech is 40-14 on the year while the Pirates are 32-25.

A day after completing an NFL Draft that featured eight Virginia Tech football players being drafted, five more Hokies from the Commonwealth of Virginia have signed free agent deals with NFL squads.

Linebacker Vince Hall (Chesapeake, Va.) and receiver Josh Hyman (Chesapeake, Va.) both signed with St. Louis while defensive tackle Kory Robertson (Magna Vista, Va.) signed with Miami, safety D.J. Parker (Hampton, Va.) signed with San Francisco and defensive tackle Barry Booker (Madison Heights, Va.) signed with Tennessee.

It was a big day for five former Virginia Tech football players as Chris Ellis, Xavier Adibi, Carlton Powell, Josh Morgan and Justin Harper were all selected in the 2008 NFL Draft, being held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Combined with yesterday’s three picks, Tech had eight players taken in the Draft, the second-biggest haul in school history.

The eight picks were the second most in this year’s draft from a single school, trailing only USC’s 10.

Ellis (Hampton, Va.) was the first to go on the second day, as he was taken with the ninth pick of the third round, 72nd overall, by the Buffalo Bills. Linebacker Xavier Adibi (Hampton, Va.) will join Duane Brown in Houston as Adibi was taken with the 19th pick of the fourth round, the 118th pick overall. Along with Brown, former Hokies Brandon Frye and Andre Davis also play for the Texans.

Carlton Powell (Chesapeake, Va.) became the third “757” player of the day drafted from Tech as he went to the Denver Broncos with the 13th pick of the fifth round, 148th overall. He joins Eddie Royal, who was taken in the second round by the Broncos yesterday.

A pair of receivers went next as Josh Morgan (Washington, D.C.) will be headed out west to San Francisco. He was taken with the eighth pick of the sixth round, the 174th overall selection. In the seventh round, Justin Harper (Catawba, N.C.) was taken by the Baltimore Ravens with the eight pick of the round, 215th overall.

The eight Hokies drafted are tied for the second-most in school history. Tech had nine players taken in the 2006 Draft and eight were selected in the 2002 Draft.

Overall, the ACC had 34 players taken with Tech easily leading the way with eight. Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami and Wake Forest all had three players taken with Clemson, North Carolina and NC State providing two players each. Maryland had one player taken. Duke was the only ACC school without a draft pick.

This decade, the Hokies have had at least two players taken in every Draft and 46 total (5 in 2000; 3 in 2001; 8 in 2002; 2 in 2003; 5 in 2004; 3 in 2005; 9 in 2006; 3 in 2007 and 8 in 2008).

Look for several Tech players who weren’t drafted to ink free agent deals in the next 24-48 hours.

Three Virginia Tech football players were taken on the first day of the 2008 NFL Draft, being held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Offensive tackle Duane Brown (Richmond, Va.) was a bit of a surprise pick, being taken by the Houston Texans as the No. 26 overall draft pick. Brown becomes the first Hokie player to be taken in the first round since corner DeAngelo Hall (No. 8 overall, Atlanta) and running back Kevin Jones (No. 30 overall, Detroit Lions) were taken in the first round in 2004. Brown is the highest-drafted offensive lineman from Tech since Eugene Chung was taken 13th overall by New England in 1992 and becomes just the eighth first-round pick in school history.

Cornerback Brandon Flowers (Delray Beach, Fla.) was quickly taken in the second round as he was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the fourth pick of the round, 35th overall. Flowers becomes the seventh defensive back/safety from Tech to be drafted since 2004.

Receiver/return man Eddie Royal (Herndon, Va.) rounded out the day for the Hokies as he was taken with the 11th pick of the second round (42nd overall) by the Denver Broncos. The last Tech player drafted by the Broncos was linebacker Ken Brown, who was taken in the fourth round of the 1995 Draft.

The ACC had seven players taken in the first round, including two of the top four for the third year in a row. In all, 11 players from ACC schools were taken on the first day of the Draft.

Virginia Tech’s three draftees from the first day is the second-highest total, trailing only USC’s seven.

The final day of the Draft will take place Sunday with rounds three through seven. Action will begin at 10 a.m., with coverage on ESPN.

The Virginia Tech women's track & field team is ranked fourth in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll, released Wednesday. The Hokies debuted in the third spot in the March 27 preseason poll.

The Hokies totaled 212.59 points in the organization’s scoring system and have turned in 23 NCAA Regional qualifying performances. Tech gained 55.76 points after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Championship on Saturday to jump four spots.

 

A pair of Tech’s sophomore hurdlers currently claim the top times in the nation in their respective events. Queen Harrison owns the country’s top 400-meter hurdle time at 55.16 seconds at the ACC Championships this past weekend. Kristi Castlin has the fastest 100-meter hurdle performance in the country this season with a time of 12.81 seconds at the Hurricane Invitational.

 

Tech is the highest rated ACC school and the only conference team in the top 15.

Louisiana State tops the national rankings while ACC members Florida State (No. 17) and Virginia (No. 25) are among the top 25.

 

The complete rankings can be found at http://ustfccca.cstv.com/rankings/rankings_2008.html.

 

Tech's next meet is the Liberty Twilight on Thursday, May 1 in Lynchburg, Va.

After a couple of weeks off, the Hokie podcast with Bill Roth is back this week with an in-depth wrap-up of Tech’s spring football practices and the spring game.

Listen to an interview with head coach Frank Beamer on the spring session as a whole, as well as a chat with quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain on the QB situation heading into the fall.

Visit http://www.hokiesports.com/radio/podcast/ to listen to the new episode as well as any past archived episodes you may have missed.

In case you didn’t make it to Blacksburg for the spring football game on Saturday, here are the team awards that were handed out at halftime. The annual awards are decided on by the Tech coaching staff based on the players’ performances during offseason workouts and spring practices:

Paul Torgersen Award (top newcomers)
Offense – Blake DeChristopher
Defense – Barquell Rivers

Dr. Richard Bullock Award (most improved)
Offense – Ike Whitaker
Defense – Demetrius Taylor

Frank O. Moseley Award (most hustle)
Offense – Dustin Pickle
Defense – John Graves

Don Williams TEAM UNITED Award (put team first)
Offense – Devin Perez
Defense – Cam Martin

Coaches Award (exceptional spring)
Offense – Nick Marshman
Defense – Brett Warren

President’s Award (leadership)
Defense – Orion Martin and Kam Chancellor

George Preas Award (most valuable performer)
Offense – Greg Boone
Defense – Jason Worilds

“Biggest Loser” Award (lost most weight)
Cordarrow Thompson

Virginia Tech will begin play at the 2008 ACC Men's Golf Championship at 9:10 a.m. on Thursday morning. The tournament will take place at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point in New London, N.C. The Hokies were co-champions in 2007, tying the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech.

For a complete listing of tee times and for live scoring of the event over the weekend, log on to:

Fans of Virginia Tech and softball pitcher Angela Tincher are reminded that they can vote once per day, per computer for the Lowes Senior CLASS Award for softball. Tincher is one of 10 finalists for the prestigious award.

Tincher, a two-time All-American on the field and a two-time Academic All-American, currently sports a cumulative GPA of over 3.8 in finance and will graduate this May. She has already been accepted into Tech's MBA program and plans to pursue that degree next year. She is the nation's leader in both strikeouts and ERA and is approaching 2,000 career strikeouts.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award has developed into the nation's premier tribute to college seniors. The award, which launched in 2001 with college basketball, is now in its second year for softball. Arizona outfielder Caitlin Lowe won the inaugural softball division award in 2007.

There is a link on the right side of the main hokiesports.com page, as well as the softball page. Or you can bookmark this page and go directly there each day.

Fans can vote for up to three people each time, but don’t have to vote for three. Nationwide voting ends May 9 and the winner will be announced at the Women’s College World Series.

The Hokies (36-11, 13-2 ACC) will be at home this weekend, hosting Florida State in a big three-game series. The Hokies and Seminoles will play a single game Friday night at 7 o’clock before playing the doubleheader Saturday starting at 5 p.m. Friday will be Kelsey Hoffman trading card day and Saturday will be VT Car Flag Giveaway as well as Faculty/Staff Day.

Former Hokie basketball standout Deron Washington was named to the all-tournament team of the 2008 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, played April 9-12 at Churchland High School in Portsmouth.

The P.I.T. is the nation's oldest amateur basketball tournament. It is the only tournament for college seniors to participate in and be evaluated by the National Basketball Association prior to the NBA's pre-draft camp in Orlando.

Washington was the only former ACC player on the 12-man team. He led his Norfolk Naval Shipyard team to a fourth-place finish in the eight-team event. Washington was fifth in scoring in the tournament, averaging 17.0 points per game. He also averaged 6.0 rebounds and 2.67 assists in the three-game tournament. He hit five of 12 (.417) of his three-point attempts and averaged 2.0 blocked shots per game.

Jamar Butler was named the tournament MVP and other notables on the all-tournament team were Chris Lofton and JaJuan Smith of Tennessee, Reggie Williams of VMI and Gary Forbes of UMass.

Come out to this week's home athletics event for some great free giveaways!

The first 100 fans at Monday's 6 p.m. lacrosse match with Duke will get a VT car flag.

Here are a few suggestions for Virginia Tech golf fans surfing the internet during the Masters Tournament this week.

First and foremost, there is Masters.org. The official website of the Masters Tournament has news, the official leaderboard, blogs and a vast video selection. Make sure to read a daily diary written by Drew Weaver.

The three best non-Masters.org blogs from the tournament that I have found are a SI.com, Golfwek.com and ESPN.com. ESPN.com’s Jason Sobel is blogging from the media center and is updating every few minutes during the action. Expect a few Drew Weaver and Johnson Wagner mentions. He also has a posted e-mail address that allows readers to ask questions.

And, of course, keep up with Weaver’s scorecard on the top of Hokiesports.com.

Fresh off a 7-3 win over Wake Forest on Friday, the Virginia Tech baseball team will try to make it two in a row over the Demon Deacons on Saturday at 1 p.m. The contest will be televised by RSN (Comcast SportsNet, FOX Sports Net South, FOX Sports Florida & New England Sports Network), so check your local listings.

Deron Washington scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 29 minutes of action to help lead his Norfolk Naval Shipyard team to a 96-88 victory over Sales Systems in the opening round of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament at Churchland High School in Portsmouth, Va., on Wednesday night. Washington also had three assists and three blocked shots in the game.

The P.I.T. is the nation's oldest amateur basketball tournament. It is the only tournament for college seniors to participate in and be evaluated by the National Basketball Association prior to the NBA's pre-draft camp in Orlando.

Washington is joined on the Shipyard team by Anthony Morrow from Georgia Tech, Jason Richards of Davidson and A.J. Graves of Butler. Former UVa player Gary Forbes, who finished his career at UMass, led the Shipyard with 26 points. Jiri Hubalek of Iowa State scored 27 points for Sales Systems.

Other ACC players competing in the event are Cliff Hammonds of Clemson, Gavin Grant of NC State and Anthony King of Miami. Other players of note in this year's PIT are Patrick Ewing Jr., and Jonathan Wallace of Georgetown, Kyle Hines of UNC Greensboro, Reggie Williams of VMI, Dwayne Curtis of Mississippi, Chris Lofton of Tennessee, Sundiata Gaines of Georgia and Brian Butch of Wisconsin.

The tournament runs from April 9-12 and is now in its 56th year of competition.

The first round of the 2008 Masters Tournament was delayed on Thursday morning due to fog. Play was delayed about 1:10, so add about an hour to all the tee times today. Look for Johnson Wagner to tee off between 12:15 and 12:30 p.m. and Drew Weaver to hit his first shot between 1:45 and 2 p.m. 

The Virginia Tech football team participated in a short intrasquad scrimmage the final hour of practice Wednesday afternoon, and two touchdowns highlighted the day.

Josh Oglesby, a redshirt freshman from Garner, N.C., scored the first touchdown of the scrimmage on a 29-yard run up the middle. Oglesby finished with three carries for 36 yards.

Michael Reid, a junior from Martinsville, Va., added the other touchdown, catching a 45-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor. It was Reid’s only catch of the game.

Taylor led the Hokies in passing, completing 4-of-7 for 71 yards. Sean Glennon completed 7-of-12 for 52 yards.

Other notable performances on offense came from Darren Evans, who rushed for 23 yards on four carries, and Jahre Cheeseman, who rushed for 21 yards on five carries. Andrew Lanier caught two passes for 33 yards, and Ike Whitaker, Danny Coale and Brandon Dillard each caught two passes as well.

Cody Grimm paced the defense with five tackles, while Dorian Porch had four. Jason Worilds had a sack and blocked a field goal, and both John Graves and Demetrius Taylor had sacks as well. Macho Harris, back at cornerback, blocked a field goal.

Virginia Tech head golf coach Jay Hardwick will be interviewed from Augusta on Thursday afternoon on the ESPN Outside the Lines First Look program. OTL will show a feature on the Hokies’ Drew Weaver and then interview Coach Hardwick. The show will begin at 3 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

ESPN will televise the annual Par 3 Tournament at the Masters beginning on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Both Weaver and former Hokie Johnson Wagner are expected to participate in the event.

Virginia Tech golfer Drew Weaver and former Hokie golfer Johnson Wagner will each have a Masters champion in their groupings for the first two rounds of the Masters Tournament on Thursday and Friday.

Weaver will tee off at 12:46 p.m. on Thursday and 9:28 a.m. on Friday with 1976 Masters champion Raymond Floyd and former Clemson All-American Jonathan Byrd.  Floyd has made 27 cuts in his 43 previous Masters appearances. Floyd has four major championship titles and 10 top 10 finishes at Augusta National. Byrd made the cut in his first Masters and has two previous appearances.

Wagner will tee off at 11:18 a.m. on Thursday and 8:11 a.m. on Friday in a grouping with 1982 Masters champion Craig Stadler and Steve Flesch. Stadler has made the cut in 21 of his previous 31 Masters appearances and has five top 10 finishes at Augusta National.

A feature on Virginia Tech's Drew Weaver, which ran on Sunday night's SportsCenter, is now available on ESPN.com. Click here to access it.

On April 29, the Chick-fil-A Bowl Alma Mater at Reynolds Plantation, the nation’s premier head coach and celebrity golf event, will again assemble a “who’s who” list of teams competing against their rivals for a $375,000 scholarship purse.

The field will include defending champions Frank Beamer and Dell Curry of Virginia Tech and an impressive list of top NCAA head coaches and celebrities. In all, 14 teams are scheduled to hit the links – all vying for the $100,000 first-place prize.

Newly added teams from Boston College – including head football coach Jeff Jagodinski and actor Chris O’Donnell – and UConn – with head basketball coach Jim Calhoun and former NBA forward Donny Marshall – will help make this the most elite coach and celebrity golf event in the country.

Other returning players include Ralph Friedgen (Maryland), Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), Mark Richt (Georgia), Nick Saban (Alabama), Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) and Tommy Tuberville (Auburn).

More new teams will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl Alma Mater at Reynolds Plantation features pairings that include a university head coach and a celebrity alumnus from the same school competing in a scramble format against other university teams from around the country.

The celebrity round will be taped for broadcast and aired nationally by CBS from 2 – 4 p.m. (ET) on Christmas Day. For more information on the event, visit www.Chick-fil-ABowlAlmaMater.com.

An article featuring Drew Weaver and his Hokie teammates will air on Sunday night's SportsCenter, following the second national semifinal of the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament on ESPN.

The feature will also be shown on the network's Masters preview show on Wednesday night. 

Up until this season, a Hokie had never competed in the Masters. Now, two Hokies, one past and one present, will be teeing off in golf’s most prestigious tournament.

Johnson Wagner shot a final round 71 and won the Shell Houston Open by two strokes on Sunday afternoon. The former Hokie golfer won his first PGA Tour event and, with it, has now earned a berth in the Masters. He also earns a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

Wagner won $1,008,000 with the victory and has jumped from 180^th to 18^th on the Tour’s FedEx Cup.

Wagner joins current Hokie Drew Weaver in the 2008 Masters. Weaver earned his way into the tournament with his victory in the 2007 British Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in Lancashire, England.

Former Hokie golfer Johnson Wagner leads Chad Campbell by one stroke entering Sunday's final round of the Shell Houston Open. Wagner has held or shared the lead since the first round on Thursday. If Wagner wins the tournament, he will earn a spot in next week's Masters in Augusta, Ga., joining current Hokie Drew Weaver in golf's most prestigious event.

Live scoring to the Shell Houston Open is available at:

http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/index.html

While the Virginia Tech golf team is in Augusta preparing for Friday’s Administaff/Augusta State Invitational, former Hokie golfer Johnson Wagner was heating up at the Shell Houston Open.

Wagner tied defending champion Adam Scott for the lead with a course-record-tying 63 in the opening round of the PGA event, being played at the Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas. He teed off on the 10^th hole and finished his 18 holes with an eagle on the par-five eighth and a birdie on the par-four ninth. Wagner had seven birdies, one eagle and no bogeys on the day. The Amarillo, Texas, native also shared the first-round lead last year and shared the previous course record (64) with Bubba Watson, set in last year’s event.

The Virginia Tech football team dedicated the last 30 minutes of Wednesday’s practice to a 40-play intrasquad scrimmage. The offense had several nice plays, but for the most part, the defense controlled the pace of the action.

Quarterbacks Sean Glennon (6-for-7, 39 yards) and Tyrod Taylor (4-for-8, 35 yards) each had bright moments leading the offense. Brandon Dillard hauled in three passes for 30 yards while Victor “Macho” Harris caught two passes for eight yards. Tight end Greg Boone turned a short reception into a 13-yard gain, dragging several defenders with him.

In the rushing game, Kenny Lewis, Jr., carried the ball twice for 24 yards while Darren Evans toted the ball six times for 33 yards. Jahre Cheeseman had four carries for 21 yards and Josh Oglesby had four carries for 12 yards.

Defensively, Lance Barbour led the way with four solo stops and an assist. Jason Worilds had three solo tackles, including a sack. Demetrius Taylor had a sack and another tackle for loss while Ron Cooper had four solo stops. Davon Morgan had a solo stop, an assist and a pass break up.

The Hokies will hold practice No. 5 of the spring Friday. Tech wraps up things on April 19 with the annual Spring Game.

NEW YORK - Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of the University of Florida captured the 2007 James E. Sullivan Award Tuesday in a ceremony at the New York Athletic Club. Tebow beat out a talented group of four other finalists, including Virginia Tech senior softball player Angela Tincher.

Known as the "Oscar" of sports awards, and older than The Heisman, the AAU Sullivan Award honors the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. It has been presented annually by the AAU since 1930 as a salute to founder and past president of the Amateur Athletic Union, and a pioneer in amateur sports, James E. Sullivan. Based on the qualities of leadership, character, sportsmanship, and the ideals of amateurism, the AAU Sullivan Award goes far beyond athletic accomplishments and honors those who have shown strong moral character.

The other finalists were Jonathan Horton (gymnastics), Jeff Lerg (ice hockey), Philippa Raschker (track & field) and Tebow.

Tincher and the 21st-ranked Hokie softball team return home this weekend for a three-game series against the University of Virginia at Tech Softball Park.

On Saturday, the two will play a doubleheader beginning at noon and will play a single game on Sunday starting at 1 p.m.