Pleasant Hill’s Logan Blomquist wins NCAA hammer throw championship on final attempt
Logan Blomquist picked the right time for his best hammer throw effort of his career.
The Southeast Missouri State thrower from Pleasant Hill threw a personal-best and school-record 73.37 meters (240 feet, 8 inches) on his sixth and final attempt to win the NCAA outdoor championship on Wednesday in Eugene, Oregon.
Blomquist, a fifth-year senior, became the first men’s track athlete from Southeast Missouri to win a NCAA title. He topped Penn State’s Tyler Merkley, who had taken the lead at 72.70 on his fifth attempt.
“I was nervous, knowing it came down to one final throw and that was it,” Blomquist said in a press release. “I’ve worked so hard for so long for this moment.”
Finishing fifth was Wichita State’s Michael Bryan from Wamego, Kansas, with a throw of 71.56. Kade McCall of Kansas State was 13th.
Blomquist entered the meet on a roll. He had delivered the nation’s top hammer throw during a regular-season college meet and was the only collegian entering the NCAA meet to have topped 73 meters this season.
At Pleasant Hill, Blomquist won the shot put at the Missouri state high school meet as a senior and the discus as a junior. He won both events at the Ohio Valley Conference outdoor meet this year and was named the league’s male field athlete of the year.
Three years ago, Blomquist threw 60.45 meters at the 2019 NCAA outdoor championships in Austin, Texas to place 24th.
“2019, I showed up .. and performed very poorly,” Blomquist said “I took a lot away from that with dieting and everything else. I’ve been working on my technique for two years really hard.”
Wichita State places two in top five
Bryan’s fifth-place finish was the highest in the event in Wichita State history.
Another Shocker thrower, Taran Taylor, broke the school record in the javelin. On his final throw of the day, Taylor’s throw of 78.76 meters was enough to push him into fourth place for the program’s highest finish in the javelin event.
“Very special day for Wichita State track and field,” Wichita State throws coach John Hetzendorf said in a press release. “Two seniors who’ve worked very hard for a long time both broke the school records in their events and became First Team All-Americans.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 8:36 AM.