Rice Experience Takes Decathlete to New Heights

As a freshman on the men’s track team at Rice, Ryan Harlan ’04 had never pole vaulted before. He’d never thrown a javelin or shot put. Even so, that’s exactly what then-coach Ray Davidson brought him here to do, and it has paid off.

During his five years at Rice, Harlan developed into a world-class athlete in the decathlon, an event that consists of 100-meter, 400-meter, and 1500-meter runs; 110-meter hurdles; javelin and discus throws; shot put; pole vault; high jump; and long jump. He finished his collegiate career by winning the decathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June and qualifying for the Olymplic Team Trials. “It’s an honor to be considered one of the best athletes in the country,” he says. “It makes me happy for my parents and coaches because I know they’re proud.”

While Harlan finished only 14th at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Prior to the event, he contracted a severe staph infection that left him hospitalized. Discharged only two hours before the first decathlon event, he competed wearing bandages on his arms and legs.

In high school, Harlan, who is more than six feet tall, competed in the high jump and ran hurdles. Harlan’s potential was apparent to Davidson when he saw Harlan at a statewide track meet. “Since I was a bigger guy, he thought I could throw shot put, throw discus, and pole vault,” Harlan says. “He nudged the guy next to him to find out who I was.”

In a stadium packed with 50,000 fans at the largest track meet in Texas, the man sitting next to Davidson happened to be Harlan’s high school track coach. The conversation between the two men that day would ultimately cement Harlan’s college plans. “It pretty much became set in stone that day,” Harlan recalls. “Rice turned out to be the best academic school I could go to.”

Arriving at Rice, Harlan had to learn new events from scratch, and it wasn’t easy. “At first, it was hilarious watching me pole vault because I had no idea what I was doing,” he says. “I looked like I was going to kill myself.”

Harlan wasn’t always a shoo-in for athletic greatness. As a young child, he was bowlegged and pigeon-toed. He remembers wearing corrective shoes to church and a bar between his legs in bed every night. His mother had to exercise his legs to strengthen and direct his muscles.
The exercises eventually made his legs strong enough to compete in sports in junior high. Harlan went on to break school and regional records in the high jump and hurdles at Hewitt High School outside of Waco. His early experience only made him appreciate his talents more as he grew older.

With his Rice degree in hand, Harlan launched his professional track career by joining the World’s Greatest Athlete Decathlon Club, which essentially paid him to train for the Olympics and other competitions. “I really wanted to stay in Houston and train with the coaches I already have,” he says. “I’ve been here for five years, so I don’t really want to leave.”

Harlan’s time at Rice was not devoted solely to track. He also developed a passion for art. In addition to majoring in managerial studies, he pursued a degree in sculpture. Art classes were a release, he explains. “I enjoy creating something. It’s just an enjoyable experience, as well as a learning experience.”

Harlan originally became interested in sculpting because he needed an extra class. “I decided to take creative design sculpture studio,” he says, “and I was hooked.”

His piece “Incomplete Whole” was included in last spring’s student art show at the Rice Gallery, and Harlan says art will remain an important part of his life. “I’ll always be making creative art pieces on the side because I have to get creative ideas out somehow. I also like to write poetry, sculpt, and sketch.”

Harlan strived to try a variety of things while at Rice. “As a decathlete, you have to be good at everything,” he notes. “I tried to become a well-rounded person too.”

—Lindsey Fielder