Tech Golfer Drew Weaver Wins British Amateur Championship

Rising junior Virginia Tech golfer Drew Weaver became the first American
since 1979 to win the British Amateur Championship this past weekend in Royal
Lytham & St. Annes in Lancashire, England.

288 players competed for 64 spots in match play in the event. With the win,
Weaver automatically qualifies for this year’s British Open, to be played July
19-22 in Scotland. Weaver also qualifies for the 2008 Masters.

Weaver is ranked 165th among college golfers, so his win is quite an
achievement. He dedicated the victory to the victims of the April 16th tragedy
at Virginia Tech.

For the complete press release from hokiesports.com, click
here.

In other Virginia Tech Olympic sports news, Tech hurdler Queen Harrison won
the USA Junior Title in the 400 meter hurdles Saturday (click
here for a full report).

Virginia Tech has reportedly received a football commitment for the 2007
class from Ervin
Garner, a 5-9, 165-pound wide receiver/kick returner from Oakton High School
in Vienna, Virginia. As a senior, Garner had 31 receptions for 336 yards and
three touchdowns.

A spot opened up in the 2007 class when linebacker Quillie
Odom failed to qualify. Odom will attend Hargrave Military Academy this
coming fall. Also in danger of not qualifying is offensive lineman William
Alvarez, who is coming down to the wire academically, as reported here and
elsewhere.

Another question mark in the 2007
recruiting class is Bradenton (FL) linebacker Hunter Ovens, but not for
academic reasons. Ovens was pursuing his options in major league baseball. He
was drafted in the 25th round by the San Diego Padres, and on June 13th, the San
Diego Union-Tribune reported that Ovens
was seeking a $250,000 signing bonus to forego his Tech football career and
play baseball.

Late at night on June 15th, a message board poster on Rivals.com who claims
to represent the Ovens family (specifically, he says he is Hunter’s father)
reported that the Padres’ offer was too low and that Ovens will be attending
Tech, starting in early July. Classes for second summer session begin next
Monday, July 2nd.

Since that posting, no further details have been given, either via message
boards, newspaper articles or other web sites, of Ovens’ intentions.
TechSideline.com has been attempting to reach Ovens for the last three weeks,
with no success.

TSL recruiting analyst Chris Horne is working on all of these stories
(Garner, Odom, Alvarez, and Ovens) and will report what he finds as soon as
possible.