If one were to compare a professional athlete to Buchholz’s Evan Fleming, a name that could come up is Scottie Pippen.
For years, Fleming’s played second fiddle to Riley Smith — the Michael Jordan of the Bobcats squad.
Both runners were integral to the ‘Cats success, but Smith received much of the attention.
That changed in May when an injury sidelined Smith.
With states on the horizon, the limelight shined on Fleming, and he needed to step up.
Boy, did he.
Fleming won the 1600 and 3200m at the Class 4A State Championship May 18 in Jacksonville.
Now, Fleming is the Sun’s All-Gainesville Area Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
More good news came to Fleming just before states as he officially received an offer from UF. Fleming had avoided committing to another school in hopes that track legend and former Buchholz coach Mike Holloway would give him an offer.
“I was waiting for that phone call for about four years,” Fleming said. “He said, ‘Do you want to be a Gator?’ and I was like, ‘hell yeah.’ I waited a few minutes to tell my parents, but I was tearing up a bit in my room.”