SEMO Graduate student thrower Parker Feuerborn is making waves this track season, winning OVC athlete of the week, breaking his own personal records and winning the weight throw event in the Bellamire open.

This recent showing of success is adding to the decorated resume of Feuerborn, who won the indoor OVC championship in weight throw, the outdoor OVC championship in hammer throw and placed 13th overall in the NCAA track and field championship for hammer throw in 2023.

“I've been really fortunate working with Coach Crumpecker, I came from University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and had some great coaching there, but coming here really took it to the next level,” Feurborn said.

Head coach Crumpecker has been responsible for the development of many esteemed athletes, and entire teams, holding multiple indoor and outdoor OVC team and individual titles, and even a national title for hammer throw through 2022 NCAA champion Logan Blomquist.

Head coach Crumpecker commented on the development of Feuerborn, saying the technicality of his approach to throwing has increased dramatically over the time he has been at SEMO.

“He came in with a couple years under his belt throwing the hammer, he would kind of just grip and rip it by putting a bunch of brute force behind it, but he’s gotten way more technical now, he still can put a lot of force on it, but he’s still got a lot better technique backing him up, and those two things together have made him a lot better,” Crumpecker said.

Senior thrower Clay Alewelt attributes this rise to success in Feuerborn to a high standard and a high work ethic held not only by himself, but also the team.

“His work ethic is really good, he practices four days a week, films all his throws, and never skips reps, we definitely have a high standard, we’re not big D1 but we compete with and beat a lot of them, obviously the results speak for themselves,” Altwelt said.

Feuerborn echoes this sentiment, crediting the team as a whole as a major catalyst for his growth in hammer throw.

“The guys here and the girls here are fantastic, everyone wants to work hard, everyone wants to throw far, it's not fun when you don’t win, everyone wants to win, we’re all competitive, we have that drive, and that’s pushed me farther than I thought I could ever go,” Feuerborn said.

Feuerborn is not planning on slowing down at all this season, as he aims for more success on the national level, and to expand to the international level as well.

“I’d really like to go to the indoor meet, I’ve never been and then outdoor I’d really like to see the (olympic) trials, coach and I have talked about that and think that it’s in the ballpark so once outdoor comes, it going to get crazy, and we’ve gotta work hard, but that’s the goal,” Fuerborn said.

SEMO Track and Field will travel to Champaign, Illinois for their next meet, the Illini Challenge on January 26-27 at the UI armory.