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95 I n most instances the act would have gone unnoticed, except it was done within view of a track coach. So begins the athletic success story of University of Iowa sophomore Aaron Mallett, who was exclusively a sprinter until that day aer practice at McCluer North High School near St. Louis. Mallett and his teammates were cooling down aer a workout by tossing a football. Like oen happens in situations like that, the ball found its way over a fence. Mallett went on a retrieval mission, leaping effortlessly over the barrier. "It was natural instinct. I went over as fast as I thought was possible," Mallett said. "My coach saw me and said, 'Oh, you have pretty good form. Let's see what you can do tomorrow in the hurdles.'" Not only did Mallett begin his indoctrination into hurdling, he also began a desire of studying video of the top hurdlers in the world. He practiced and studied, studied and practiced. He entered an AAU meet in Ohio, won a hurdle event, and was hooked. Cue films of Renaldo Nehemiah, Aries Merritt, and David Oliver, a ritual that continues. On New Year's Eve 2014, Mallett returned to his high school coach's house and watched race aer race of his idols. Mallett continues to learn by studying great hurdlers and now he is trained daily by Joey Woody, one of those hurdling legends. Woody, an NCAA champion and world championship qualifier in the 400 hurdles, is director of track and field at the University of Iowa. "Coach Woody sold it for me," Mallett said. "I wanted to go to Kansas, but I felt like the family atmosphere was better here. (Woody) is a world champion who has coached great athletes, so I wanted to go where I knew I could improve and have a great support team behind me. Iowa was the place." Woody entered late to the recruitment of Mallett. When the Hawkeyes joined the mix, Mallett had taken four official visits. But since he lives 3 ½ hours from Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track, Mallett agreed to an unofficial stopover to the UI — and he loved what he saw. "at made it more of an uphill battle," Woody said. "To get a kid to come on an unofficial visit who had narrowed things down was a tough thing. I'm glad we were able to get him on campus to show him what Iowa has to offer. "He was interested in us because of our hurdle background and the success we have had in the hurdle events. Once he came on campus he was a lot more interested in Iowa, so coach (Larry) Wieczorek and I went down and told him we were going to do everything we could to take care of him. It all worked out for the best." And the best is yet to come. As a freshman, Mallett placed 15th in the 110 hurdles (13.86) and 37th in the 400 hurdles (52.68) at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Fayetteville, Arkansas. is season Woody thinks Mallett can run 13.5 in the 110 hurdles, sub-50 seconds in the 400 hurdles and run a 46-second split on the 4x400 relay. "If he is doing those things, he is going to be tough to beat in the Big Ten and he is going to be one of the top athletes in the NCAA Championships," Woody said. Mallett was named Most Outstanding Freshman for the Hawkeyes aer the 2014 season. He clocked collegiate-best times of 7.88 in the 60-meter hurdles, 13.86 in the 110 high hurdles, and 51.78 in the 400 hurdles. He qualified for the Big Ten finals in the 110 hurdles, placing sixth. Mallett opened his sophomore season Jan. 10 by winning the Border Battle 60-meter hurdles in 8.04 and finishing third in the 200-meter dash in 22.64.