A row of orange cones stand along each other in the middle of the field at an empty Abe Stuber Track Complex just off the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

The cones serve as a target for two giants swinging metal cables attached to a 16-pound cannonball.

They aim to hurl the object over the cones, but sometimes striking them from 70 meters away will do.

All in preparation to chase an Olympic dream.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are weeks away and the U.S.A. Track and Field Trials will take place at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from Friday, June 21, through Sunday, June 30. Two flights of 12 throwers will compete for the finals. The top three out of 12 will represent the U.S.A. in the Olympics. The minimum mark is 67.00m while 72.00m automatically qualifies for a spot in the trials.

In representing SEMO, Logan Blomquist and Parker Feuerborn return to the site where they cemented themselves as Redhawk legends.

Southeast Missouri State graduate Parker Feuerborn practices his hammer throw technique Thursday, June 13, at the Abe Stuber Track Complex in Cape Girardeau. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Blomquist stood atop a field full of Big Ten and other Power Five athletes to win the NCAA championship in the hammer throw in 2022 with a mark of 73.37m. Feuerborn earned All-American status with an eighth-place finish this year with a mark of 71.42m. Blomquist earned an automatic spot in the trials with a 72.58 mark at the Rock Chalk Classic at the University of Kansas on April 27.

In a college landscape dominated by the big brands and the gulf between the haves and have-nots in Division I continuously widening, these two men carved SEMO's place at the top.

"I think track & field is one of the only sports that you can shine as an individual," Blomquist said. "You know where you stand based on how far you throw."

It's a different experience seeing some of the best throwers in the nation when it's their time to throw. Everyone stops what they're doing and claps their hands on the thrower's command.

All in anticipation of a unique sight.

"Parker and I go to meets being among the best in the nation, I think a lot of times we don't feel like we're that different, and then we go out and throw 40 feet farther between the first place and second, and we wonder why there's no competition," Blomquist said. "And it's because we really are among the best. He's 21st in America. I'm 16th in America. There's 15 people better in America."

Both athletes found their hammer throw as their main event almost by accident, as both originally became college athletes from what they threw in the shot put.

Feuerborn entered the college ranks at St. Thomas just before the school made the transition from Division III to DI. He threw for 35m in his first meet as a sophomore and wanted to give up the event entirely. A tweak in technique led to a 50m throw, and the rest was history.

Southeast Missouri State graduate Parker Feuerborn practices his hammer throw technique Thursday, June 13, at the Abe Stuber Track Complex in Cape Girardeau. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

"I was like, alright, this is my personality now, and I fully switched over," Feuerborn said. "I eventually quit everything but hammer because I was tired of it."

Blomquist's high school coach foresaw success in his future at the hammer throw, but it didn't come quickly. It wasn't until he threw for 59m as a sophomore that he could be where he is today.

"That's when it clicked," Blomquist said. "If I put in the effort, the work, that I do things right, I can be good. That's when I decided that being an Olympian or trying to pursue the Olympic Trials was a reality."

His belief was reassured when he improved to 65m and made it to the NCAA Championships in 2021. In one year's time, he went from finishing last in that meet to finishing first.

"It's just years of dedication," Blomquist said.

Feuerborn wasn't initially aware of SEMO's existence but upon researching for a new school to transfer to for his graduate studies in 2022, he was compelled to join the Redhawks because of Blomquist's success.

"I got an email from [SEMO head coach Eric Crumpecker] and then I'm looking up SEMO and it's like 'Logan Blomquist, national champion,' I said, 'Well, that seems like an easy option'," Feuerborn said. "I watched [the NCAA championships] live and I was like, oh dude, this guy's a freak. I gotta go meet him. I want to go talk to him."

The challenging part of preparing for the Olympic Trials after college is fitting the training into life as a working adult.

"You think you have a lot of personal responsibility in college," Blomquist said, "and then you graduate and it's like every decision you make, if you want to be good, is all on you. You have to be smart about your time. No one is forcing you to come throw. You're not getting paid to throw at your school anymore. It's up to you."

Southeast Missouri State alum Logan Blomquist practices his hammer throw technique Thursday, June 13, at the Abe Stuber Track Complex in Cape Girardeau. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Blomquist had a sponsorship deal with the local Wings Etc. restaurant where a portion of his special meal went to him to help fund his trips to professional meets and pay his way to the trials.

"The locals get to see there's an athlete here that's training, that's got these aspirations and goals, and here's an opportunity to help him," Blomquist said. "I think that's great for me and for the company that we're benefiting."

The competition for the coveted three spots is daunting. Rudy Winkler is the top-ranked hammer thrower and holds the American record with a throw of 82.71. Behind him is Daniel Haugh and Alex Young, both of whom competed in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. All three of them are 29 years old going on 30, four years older than Blomquist, and much older than Feuerborn.

The 2028 Olympics will take place domestically in Los Angeles for the first time since 1984 and the first American-based summer games since 1996 in Atlanta. By then, Blomquist will be in the same position as the top three age-wise and be in his top physical condition, should he continue to pursue the Olympics after 2024.

"Being relatively young in the sport, I look at my technique and there's so much room to grow," Blomquist said. "So in 2028, if I got the desire, we're going to be cooking."