Semoball

SEMO's Blomquist on cusp of NCAA title

Southeast Missouri State senior Logan Blomquist trains recently at the Abe Stuber Track and Field Complex in Cape Girardeau.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

“The hay is in the barn.”

Southeast Missouri State senior track and field athlete Logan Blomquist made that statement during a recent practice in Cape Girardeau, as he referenced his preparation for today’s NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships.

Blomquist is the overwhelming favorite to win the Hammer competition out of the top 24 athletes in the country. Redhawk coach Eric Crumpecker said Blomquist’s confidence stems from the effort that he has put in over the past five years.

“The hay is in the barn,” Crumpecker repeated from his star athlete, “and there is a whole lot of hay in that barn.”

Blomquist will throw today at 4 p.m. (Central time) on ESPN3 in Eugene, Oregon on the campus of the University of Oregon.

Blomquist has thrown as far as 73.18 meters (he did so in April) and he has topped the 70-meter mark 17 times in his career, including six times this spring.

That is two more times than Alabama thrower Bobby Colantino, who is Blomquist’s closest competitor.

“Logan has had two good practices this week,” Crumpecker said, “and he looks ready to go.”

Blomquist has had an emotional roller-coaster over the past month, as he had to compete in the Hammer, Shot Put, and Discus in the Ohio Valley Conference Championships in early May, before reasserting his focus for the NCAA West Regional in Arkansas two weeks ago.

That continued pumping of adrenaline can have an effect on athletes and Crumpecker said Blomquist “had a rough week of practice” last week.

“I’ve talked to a lot of coaches (at the NCAAs),” Crumpecker said, “and they all said the same thing. The week before regionals and nationals is always kind of a rough week.”

Crumpecker was quick to note that Blomquist’s training last week wasn’t worrisome, and he has looked sharp since arriving in Oregon on Sunday.

“He didn’t have the greatest week,” Crumpecker said. “It wasn’t terrible. But there wasn’t anything great happening.”

Blomquist is the current Ohio Valley Conference Male Field Athlete of the Year and holds the Redhawk record in the event.

He has scaled back his training to be in peak, rested condition today. In the fall, Crumpecker said Blomquist would throw as many as 40 times in practice, while on Tuesday he threw just five times.

“You scale it back quite a bit,” Crumpecker said of the training. “We’ve tried to get rested and in lifting (weights), for the past 10 days, we’ve barely done anything in the weight room. We’re just letting him get healed up and rested as possible.”

This will be Blomquist’s second career NCAA Championships appearance.

He finished 24th overall in the 2019 championships and redshirted in 2021 after COVID canceled the 2020 meet.

“This is an awesome atmosphere,” Crumpecker said. “The facility is great. There is more excitement going on around Logan and he has a little bit more fire to him right now.”

NCAA.com track and field expert Stan Becton has made his predictions for each event, and he believes Blomquist will become SEMO’s second track and field national champion ever.

“(Logan Blomquist” will stand atop the podium after the hammer,” Becton wrote. “Blomquist is the only male collegian to surpass the 73-meter mark but his run in 2022 has been impressive even without his national lead.”

SEMO Hall of Fame athlete Jim Lohr was a two-time national high jump champion who won both the NCAA Division II Indoor and Outdoor championships in 1985 when all NCAA Divisions were combined into one national meet.

Blomquist also won the 2022 OVC title in the shot put, and qualified for the Regional in that event. However, he elected to just focus on the Hammer over the past month.

"I'm super excited for the National Championships in Eugene, Blomquist said in a release. “It is a pleasure to be able to compete against so many great competitors. To be at the highest-level meet in the NCAA Division I is super humbling and glorious.

“I'm super excited and ready to throw it really far."

Blomquist also excels in the classroom.

He was recently named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District squad after graduating this spring with a Master’s in Public Administration with a grade point average of 3.80.

SEMO last had an All-American in 2018 when Jonno Engelking claimed Second-Team All-America honors with a 10th place finish in the javelin at the NCAA Championships.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: