Vaughn DeVaughn III and Blake Nyenati stood in lanes four and five, three other hurdlers on either side of them. DeVaughn is rocking braids and wearing no accessories besides a singular gold chain glistening around his neck. Nyenati, on the other hand, donned multiple silver chains, a black arm sleeve, a black headband, a ring on his left middle finger, and an afro.
The two shook hands, got on the starting blocks, and took off at the sound of the gun. Nyenati’s hair flopped in the wind on the way to a first-place finish at 7.8 seconds, just 0.2 seconds ahead of second-place DeVaughn. The two embraced, both wearing proud grins.
Before placing in the top two at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational on Jan. 23-24, the pair of Hawkeye hurdlers spent the last few years dominating the mid-major scene. Now, the Big Ten is theirs for the taking at one of the perennial top hurdle programs in the country. Jordan Mullen captured the Big Ten crown in the 60 hurdles back in 2013 while Julien Gillum finished atop the conference in the 400 hurdles in 2022. DeVaughn and Nyenati look to add to such a legacy.
“That’s the goal here at Iowa, is to continue to have a very high-end hurdle program, and both those guys are definitely contributing to that,” Joey Woody, Iowa’s track and field and cross country director, said.
HBCU days
It’s no surprise DeVaughn is a track athlete given his family
background. His parents were both University of Maryland track athletes and met on the track team. All of his siblings ran track growing up, and some still do. His own track journey started at 5 years old and carried throughout his entire childhood — capped off with three-straight high school state titles in 60-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles, and 300-meter hurdles, plus a state championship in football. He earned Maryland Male Athlete of the Year honors in 2022.
Despite getting offers for both football and track, DeVaughn chose to put his sole focus on track when he committed to HBCU Alabama State in Montgomery. He was recruited as a jumper and hurdler, and once he put jumping to the side after his freshman year to combat knee injuries, he excelled as a hurdler.
His accomplishments in the Southwestern Athletic Conference include two-time 400-meter hurdle champion — with a time of 51.55 in 2024 and 50.41 in 2025 — three-time 4×400-meter relay champion, and runner-up in 110-meter and 60-meter.
And yet, he believes he didn’t reach his ceiling.
“My body was really fatigued, so I didn’t really get to do what I could when it came down to strictly hurdles,” DeVaughn said. “My times for hurdles in general would have just been way better if I wasn’t so fatigued from my freshman year.”
Bison’s best
Nyenati’s track journey began in the eighth grade as a trial run before high school. Sprints looked rough to him, so he decided to give hurdles a shot after seeing two of his friends doing it. Fast forward four years, and he won Minnesota state titles and finished top 40 in the country in the 110-meter hurdles, with a time of 13.83, as well as in the 300-meter hurdles, with a time of 37.38.
Offers came through late into his senior year, including Milwaukee, Minnesota, and North Dakota State, and through prayer with his family, he believed North Dakota State was the place for him.
“I feel like God gave me a sign and told me that he wanted me to go to North Dakota State,” he said. “So I ended up picking that choice, and that’s where I was for three years.”
A few nagging injuries hindered his tenure with the Bison, but Nyenati made the most of it. His first season saw him set the then-school record for the 60-meter hurdles in 7.90 seconds and place third in the Summit League Championships that same year. He redeemed himself the following year by winning the conference title for the same event in school-record fashion, with a time of 7.75 seconds.
DeVaughn and Nyenati both took their talents to the transfer portal after sweeping the mid-major scene, and Woody and his staff were intrigued with both prospects. Woody’s been with the Iowa track and field program for two decades now and knows talent when he sees it.
So far, they’ve exceeded his expectations. Nyenati’s 6.78 second 60-meter hurdle time at the Jimmy Grant Alumni Invite ranks seventh in program history, while DeVaughn’s 7.82 second runner-up finish to his counterpart in the latest meet ranks 10th in program history.
And the best has yet to come for Iowa’s new hurdling duo.
“I think that’s kind of our bread and butter, is developing athletes that have done some really good things. And both those guys come from great track programs and great coaches,” Woody said. “They really want to excel at this level and kind of prove themselves at the Power Four level.”