Bio

Ryan is a Christian pole vaulter currently living in the Seattle area with his wife, Ashli, while training in Bellingham, Washington. He began pole vaulting his freshman year of high school at the age of 14 in Bellingham, WA under coaches Rod Kammenga and Dick Henrie, two of the top vault coaches in Washington. He went on to the state competition and left high school with a personal record (PR) of 15’6”. He made the decision to stay in his home town of Bellingham and attended Western Washington University as a walk on athlete.

At WWU he continued his training with coach Dick Henrie. By the middle of his college career he was able to find a proper balance in life and began to strive toward both academics and athletics. His college athletic career included four NCAA DII pole-vault national titles (2 indoor and 2 outdoor) and the title of NCAA DII Indoor Men’s Field Athlete of the Year for 2011. He ended his collegiate career with a PR of 5.40m (17’8”).

After graduating from WWU in 2011 with a Bachelors Degree in Kinesiology, Ryan decided to set his sights on the Olympics and move to Seattle, WA to train with Pat Licari at the University of Washington. During his indoor season in 2014, he competed at the USATF Indoor National Championship and placed 10th in the nation for men’s polevault. For his outdoor seasons, he competed with Club Northwest and took 3rd at the 2013 USATF Outdoor Club National Championship. He then went on to become the 2014 USATF Outdoor Club National Champion in the men’s pole vault. His PR for 2014 was 5.30m (17’4”).

In mid 2014, the opportunity arose for Ryan to begin working with a team of coaches back in his hometown of Bellingham, WA. He will continue to pursue his Olympic dream alongside technical coach Dick Henrie, strength coach Ben Stensland and sport psychologist Dr. Ralph Vernacchia. He is looking forward to continuing his partnership with Club Northwest and ADL Management for the upcoming 2015 season.