Mike Holloway has led the UF track program to 12 national team championships during his tenure. (Photo: Mallory Peak/UAA Communications)
A Familiar Place, A Special Honor for the Man They Call Mouse
Saturday, April 8, 2023 | Track and Field, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mike Holloway has won national championships, coached the U.S. Olympic Team, and been inducted into his sport's coaching hall of fame.
The man they call "Mouse" around UF's Percy Beard Track and his local community is one of the most accomplished track and field coaches in history.
He now has a track named after him.
Buchholz High honored Holloway on Saturday afternoon by naming the school's refurbished running oval the Mike Holloway Track. Holloway took over the Buchholz program in the mid-1980s and led the Bobcats to their first state championship in the fall of 1989 and several more during his tenure.
"First of all, 'wow, I just can't believe it,'" Holloway said of the honor during a break Saturday at the Alachua County Championships at Buchholz. "Just an incredible honor. So many family, friends, and people I haven't seen in a long time [are here]."
Gators head coach Mike Holloway stands on the track that now bears his name on Saturday at Buchholz High. (Photos: Scott Carter/UAA Communications)
When Holloway and his family arrived, a stream of people met the veteran Gators head coach to say hello, share a hug or take a selfie. Holloway turned emotional as more and more people stopped to greet him.
Holloway removed his glasses to wipe tears from his eyes more than once as he circled the track and mingled with fans on the way to the ceremony.
"Y'all got me crying,'' he told a group of familiar faces, some of which he had not seen for a long time.
A struggling young coach trying to make his mark – and ends meet – when Buchholz hired him in the fall of 1985 to coach track and cross country, Holloway turned the program into a state power to boost his profile and career opportunities.
Shaun Skeris, one of Holloway's former track athletes at Buchholz, helped make Saturday's event possible. Skeris is now managing director at IEQ Capital and lives in Southern California.
A UF graduate, Skeris made a significant donation to upgrade the program's facilities and revitalize the culture Holloway built more than 30 years ago.
Skeris recalled Holloway's tough-love approach to coaching to maximize each person's ability.
"We'd finish through the line here, and he'd look at me and say, 'Shaun, is that all you got?' At that time, I thought he was really questioning my effort,'' said Skeris, a USA Track and Field board member. "But what I didn't realize, and what I realize today, is that he was challenging me to be a better person. He does that with all his athletes, which is why we're all here.
"None of us would be here today if it wasn't for Mike Holloway. It's amazing what he has done over the last 30-plus years in really making track an amazing experience. As you all know, he's more than just a coach and mentor. He's a friend."
Holloway spent a chunk of his Saturday afternoon at the place where he first became a head coach. Buchholz High is less than a five-mile drive to Percy Beard Track.
Still, in some ways, it must feel to Holloway like he is halfway around the world from where he started all those years ago while considering whether to stay in Gainesville or return home to Ohio. Holloway stayed and left his mark.
He mingled comfortably in his old stomping grounds during his latest visit. Holloway checked out the program's new field house, and reviewed a sign listing school records and past champions. He gave more hugs and took more pictures.
To know track and field remain essential at the place that made Holloway a first-time head coach made him smile.
"When I was able to become head coach here, that was the first thing I wanted to do was establish a culture that people would be proud of a very long time,'' Holloway said. "This isn't about me. This is about the people, the athletes, the assistant coaches, the trainers, the administrators, and everybody that trusted my vision."
A couple of minutes after he finished speaking to the crowd, the next race started on Mike Holloway Track.
