Redhawk athletes venture to NCAA preliminary

Southeast Missouri State athlete, and Jackson High School graduate, Nicole Humphreys, competes in the Hammer toss at the Shocker Open at Wichita State University earlier in her career.

Courtesy of SEMO Athletics

Former Jackson High School standout athlete Nicole Humphreys is among four Southeast Missouri State track and field athletes who will compete this week at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships West Preliminary meet at the University of Arkansas.

Humphreys will compete in the Hammer event, as will Logan Blomquist on the men's side.

Luke Hatfield-Jackson will compete in both the long jump and high jump events, while Marysa Flieg will compete in the javelin event.

Humphreys was recently named as the Ohio Valley Conference Female Co-Field Athlete of the Year after finishing second at the OVC Outdoor Championships.

She ranks 23rd in the NCAA West Region with a Redhawk record throw of 204 feet, 2 inches.

Humphreys will compete on Thursday at 10 a.m. with the entire meet airing on the SEC Network.

Flieg was recently recognized as the OVC Female Co-Freshman of the Year after winning the javelin competition at the Outdoor Championships.

The Ste. Genevieve native ranks 25th in the NCAA West Region with a throw of 161 feet, 4 inches, which ranks third in Redhawk history.

She will compete on Thursday at 2 p.m.

Blomquist and Hatfield-Jackson will each compete on Wednesday, while Hatfield-Jackson will compete in the high jump on Friday.

Blomquist was recently named the OVC Male Field Athlete of the Year after winning the Hammer toss at the Outdoor Championships.

He leads the West Region with a SEMO record distance of 240 feet, 1 inch.

Blomquist will throw on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

This will mark the second appearance at the NCAA Preliminary for Blomquist.

He also competed at this level in 2019, where he advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships and placed 24th.

Hatfield-Jackson won the OVC title in the high jump and took second in the long jump his spring.

His best high jump is a SEMO-best 7 feet, 1 3/4 inches, while he also holds the Redhawk record in the long jump (25 feet, 8 1/4 inches.

He will compete in the long jump at 6 p.m. and ranks 27th in the West Region.

Hatfield-Jackson will compete in the high jump on Friday at 2:30 p.m. He ranks 25th in the Region.

This will mark the second consecutive year in which he has competed in this meet.

Last year, he placed 21st in the long jump and 40th in the high jump.

The East Region Preliminary will be held at Indiana University, and the top performers will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships next month at the University of Oregon.