Five All-Americans and a former longtime administrator comprise the 2019 Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame class, as announced Sunday by the Virginia Tech Athletics Department.
The 2019 class of inductees includes:
Tasmin Fanning, a four-time All-American in track and field and cross country whose third-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Cross Country Championships remains the best finish in program history;
Brandon Flowers, a two-time All-America defensive back who helped the Hokies win the 2007 ACC title and who still ranks among the school’s leaders in career interceptions;
Matt Griswold, a baseball All-American and a three-time all-conference player who helped the Hokies to two Atlantic 10 team championships during his career in the late 1990s;
Dave Smith, a former sports information director who worked 40 years at the school, helping to promote the accomplishments of some of the school’s greatest coaches and student-athletes;
Brian Walter, a three-time All-Metro Conference selection and an All-American in cross country; and Drew Weaver, a men’s golf All-American in 2009 whose biggest career accomplishment came when he won the British Amateur in 2007.
The six new honorees will be inducted at Hall of Fame dinner held at the Inn at Virginia Tech on Sept. 6, the evening before the Virginia Tech football team takes on Old Dominion. The new inductees will be introduced to fans at halftime of the Virginia Tech-ODU game. The new inductees will bring the total number enshrined to 204.
Fanning grew up in Crozet, Virginia, just outside of Charlottesville, but she made a name for herself at Virginia Tech, where she became – and still stands as – one of the best distance runners in program history.
In track and field during her senior season, she won the gold medal in the 3,000 at the ACC Indoor Championships. In her final collegiate meet, she earned All-America honors in the 5,000 at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Fanning departed Virginia Tech as a four-time All-American – twice in cross country, once in indoor track and once in outdoor track. She set school records in both the 3,000 (indoor) with a time of 9:08.77 and the 5,000 (outdoor) with a time of 15:37.73), and she still holds both of those records today.
Flowers is one of many in a long line of great Tech defensive backs, twice earning All-America honors and All-ACC recognition during an illustrious career from 2004-07.
The Delray Beach, Florida product burst onto the scene quickly upon his arrival in Blacksburg. In his first collegiate game, he returned an interception for a touchdown against Western Michigan, but shortly thereafter, he suffered a leg injury that resulted in him missing the season.
Following his junior season, Flowers was a second-team All-ACC choice, but he earned All-America honors from three different services. He finished his career with 158 tackles, including 17 for a loss, and 10 interceptions – a number that ranks tied for 13th on the school’s all-time list.
Following the 2007 season, Flowers elected to forgo his final collegiate season and make himself available for the NFL Draft. The Kansas City Chiefs selected Flowers in the second round of the 2008 draft.
Flowers spent nine seasons in the NFL before retiring following the 2016 season.
Griswold established himself as one of the better Virginia Tech baseball players in program history during his career in the late 1990s.
He saw extensive action as a freshman, hitting .276, with five homers and 20 RBI, but he really burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 1997. That season, Griswold hit a team-best .408, recording the highest batting average by a Tech player in 22 seasons. That average still ranks as the ninth-best in school history.
Griswold departed Tech as an All-American, a three-time all-conference choice and a two-time Atlantic 10 all-tournament selection. He shares the school record for walks in a season (59 in 1999) and for putouts by an outfielder in a season (170 in 1999), and he is one of just three players in program history with more than 200 RBI in his career, amassing 203, which ranks third on the program’s list.
Smith, a native of Roanoke, worked in the athletics communications office at Virginia Tech for 40 years, starting out as an assistant sports information director and working his way up the ranks to the position of associate athletics director.
Smith, who started his career as a sports information director at Ferrum College, began working at his alma mater (Virginia Tech) in 1975 working with both the men’s basketball and baseball programs and never left, becoming the official football communications contact in 1998.
Following Smith’s retirement in 2015, the College of Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) named Smith the recipient of a CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the profession.
Smith continues to live in Blacksburg and serves as the athletics department’s de facto historian.
Walter was an instrumental figure on the men’s track and field and cross country teams in the late 1980s.
The Hardy, Virginia product was a member of maybe the best cross country team in Virginia Tech history as a sophomore in 1987. That team finished fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships – the program’s best ever finish.
Walter’s senior season in 1989-90 turned out to be his best. He won the Metro Conference cross country title, becoming the fifth runner in Tech history to win a conference cross country title at the time. He also earned All-Metro Conference honors for the third consecutive year, and he finished ninth at the NCAA regional meet to earn all-region honors again.
At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Walter finished 30th to earn All-America honors. In the spring of 1990, he won the Metro Conference championship in the 10,000.
Though a native of the Tar Heel State, Weaver elected to continue his golf pursuits at Virginia Tech, and the decision paid off, as he became one of the best golfers in program history.
Weaver, from High Point, North Carolina, quickly emerged as the team’s ace during his freshman season in 2005-06. In the spring of 2006, he led the team in scoring in three of six events, finishing with a team-best scoring average of 73.8.
In the summer before his junior season, Weaver enjoyed the biggest moment of his career, winning the 2007 British Amateur at Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s in England. He went into the tournament ranked No. 181 in the world, but concluded an improbable run with a 2 & 1 victory over Australia’s Tim Stewart in the match play championship final. He became the first American to win the event since 1979.
Weaver played his best golf as a senior, recording four top-five finishes and seven top-10 showings. He finished second on two occasions, the first coming at the Brickyard Collegiate Championship in Macon, Georgia; and the Pinehurst Intercollegiate by Gatorade held in Pinehurst, North Carolina. He also came in fifth at the ACC Championship, where he shot 6-under-par for the tournament. Nineteen of Weaver’s 29 rounds his senior season were under par.
Weaver earned All-America honors following the season, becoming the fourth All-American in Virginia Tech history and currently one of six. He also finished second at Tech in scoring average at 73.08 behind Brendon de Jonge’s 72.60. Today, he ranks seventh on the list.