Staying home: Buchholz cross country's Kate Drummond, Emerson Miller sign with Florida

The Buchholz-to-University of Florida pipeline is long and established − especially when it comes to track and field and cross country.

Before taking the reins of Florida's men's track and field program 20 years ago and the reins of Florida's women's track and field program 15 years ago, Florida head coach Mike "Mouse" Holloway built a powerhouse out of Buchholz High School in the '80s and '90s.

Now, Holloway often looks back to Buchholz to replenish his crop of Gators. This year, the famed coach harvested a pair of Bobcats in Kate Drummond and Emerson Miller, who each signed their letters of intent with the Gators on Thursday afternoon from the Buchholz auditorium.

Mouse's legacy:Before he made Florida a powerhouse, Mike Holloway built winning programs at Buchholz High

A look back at state:Oak Hall, Buchholz girls win state titles

Kate Drummond

To date, Drummond's running career has been full circle.

Drummond's father, Eric, was a student at Buchholz from 1991 to 1995, where he was a part of four Holloway-led state championship-winning teams − two in track and two in cross country.

"It's crazy to look back and be like, my dad won a state championship here and then I did with my team, too," Kate Drummond said. "It's just really cool."

In her four-year career at Buchholz, Drummond has helped the Bobcats to back-to-back state cross country titles with the most recent coming in November. Drummond has also won numerous individual district titles in cross country and track, as well as setting the school 5K record with a time of 18:27.0.

But the full circle moments don't stop there.

Signing with Florida means Drummond follows in the footsteps of her older sister, Allison, who is currently a part of the Gators' track and field team.

"I'm so excited," Kate Drummond said of rejoining her older sister. "She's my best friend. She's great and I just can't wait to share the thing that I love with her again. It's going to be so fun."

Having an older sister already in the program means Drummond has some familiarity when it comes to the Gators' current roster − a factor that played a role in her decision to stick with UF.

But perhaps the biggest selling point that kept Drummond away from other programs she entertained, including Florida State and Central Florida, was the fact that she'd be able to be close to home.

"It boiled down to being close to my family," Drummond said.

Emerson Miller

Miller didn't have quite the Buchholz pedigree that Drummond had when he joined the Bobcats his junior year after spending the first two seasons of his high school career at Eastside.

"I didn't get super serious with the sport until my sophomore year when I was still at Eastside," Miller said. "But I had two good coaches and some good friends that really helped me fall in love with the sport."

And once Miller committed himself to the sport, he chose to transfer to Buchholz, which was set to be under the new leadership of first-year head coach Pat Douma. Coincidentally, Douma and Miller first met in Boulder, Colorado, where they both happened to be in the offseason to run the Magnolia Road Trail Run.

Their first, high-altitude meeting was all that was needed for each of them to kickstart a strong, productive relationship.

"Coming into Buchholz, I didn't know as many people here," Miller said. "But I ended up meeting the coach when he was new, Coach Douma, and that kinda helped us bond. And then I made friends pretty quickly with everyone on the team."

Though only being with the Bobcats half as long as most, Miller certainly made his mark.

After running a sub-15 minute 5K at the Alexander Asics Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 1, Miller etched his name into the record books with a 14:57.5 run, good for a school and county record.

Having grown up in Gainesville, Miller says he always considered himself a Gators fan. However, signing with Florida was never the end-all-be-all.

"It's definitely not been a life-long dream ... But in the back of my mind, I've always known that I'd like to be a Gator one day," said Miller, who added that he considered other schools. "I really felt like it was the place for me. I felt like staying home was good."

Leaving a legacy

When both Drummond's and Miller's coaches gushed about the Florida signees, they used the word "legacy."

And for a pair of 17-year-olds, that's a concept that's hard for them to wrap their heads around. But it's not as farfetched as it sounds.

Buchholz girls cross country coach Mike Maren was the first to mention it. After Holloway built a powerhouse out of the program, the Bobcats fell off a bit. And it was the hard work and dedication of Drummond and Miller that helped put the Buchholz program back on the map.

"I couldn't have done what I did without all the support I have," Miller said. "It's really just a function of what everyone else has done for me. But I'm excited that my name is kind of in the books. I'm proud of what I've accomplished."

And considering Drummond's Buchholz lineage, having her name attached to a word like "legacy" means a lot.

"Buchholz has been a part of my life for so long," said Drummond, who attended her first Bobcats' football game when she was four years old. "It's a big part of my family and deep down, I'll always be a Bobcat. I hope I'm not remembered, but my team is."

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Buchholz cross country's Kate Drummond, Emerson Miller sign with Gators