This story originally appeared in the Spring 2014 edition of Marietta, The Magazine of Marietta College.
On a rare sunny day earlier this spring, Ryan Lopez-Jordan ’14 is happy to be outside on the track at Don Drumm Stadium. If you dig a little deeper, though, you’ll sense a hint of sorrow.
Like any other student-athlete, the end of his intercollegiate career is closing in.
“It is starting to hit me that I won’t be running for Marietta College anymore,” Ryan says. “I hope there might be other opportunities to further my track skills and abilities with a track club in Cleveland. But the idea of not representing Marietta any longer is sad.”
As future generations of track athletes try to gauge where they rank among Marietta’s best, they will have to start with Ryan. He earned All-American honors for the second straight year in the 60-meter hurdles after finishing third at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March with a career-best time of 8.02 seconds. He has been an outdoor All-American in the 110-meter hurdles twice as well. His best time in that event is 14.29 seconds.
“His legacy will be that he is the best Marietta Pioneer male track athlete to ever wear our singlet on a national stage. Four trips to NCAA National Championships, personal best school record setting runs in three of those Championships and four All-American awards so far,” says George Evans, Marietta’s Track & Field coach. “His legacy will be that he shined his brightest when the stage was the biggest. I cannot think of much better to say about a student-athlete than that.”
Ryan still hopes to add to his legacy at NCAA Outdoor Championships in late May, and he says he would like to nab an elusive overall championship.
“I don’t feel I have run a great race yet. I always feel I can run better,” he says.
Soft-spoken and even somewhat shy, Ryan is the opposite on the track.
“There are a few runners I’ve met over the years who want to shake my hand before a race and I don’t want any part of that,” says the Beachwood, Ohio native. “I just want to leave them in the dust. Sometimes it gets me psyched up and other times I lose my focus. I’m always working on calming myself down before a race.”
Ryan didn’t always believe he could be this competitive. Not until his senior year of high school did he even realize he might run collegiately. After a recommendation from a high school coach, Ryan chose Marietta for one simple reason.
“My grandfather wanted me close enough that he didn’t have to drive far to see me, but far enough that I wasn’t going to come home all of the time,” Ryan says. “Marietta was perfect for that.”
To instill some confidence in Ryan, Coach Evans made the bold decision to take him to a Division I meet at Columbia University.
“He ended up qualifying for the final and the field consisted of an Olympian, three hurdlers from Syracuse, three hurdlers from Georgetown and Ryan,” Evans says. “Ryan finished sixth, and when he came up to the bleachers after the race, all he could say was he thought he could have beaten a couple more guys in the race. He wasn’t satisfied. He wasn’t intimidated. He believed in himself in what could have been a pretty intimidating situation for an inexperienced racer. It was clear he was well equipped to handle the biggest of challenges.”
In fact, Ryan had faced a huge challenge just one year earlier. Quiet and not very outgoing, Ryan’s only friends were on the team and his focus in the classroom was slipping. He says he decided to quit running and even considering leaving Marietta. However, after a few meetings with his advisor, Dr. Bob Van Camp, the All-American runner decided to give his studies the same type of commitment he was starting to make to running.
“He would always ask me about track, and even when I decided to quit, he kept bringing it up,” Ryan says. “He kept reminding me about all of the free time I was going to have and didn’t I think I would get bored. I learned real quick he was right, and I got refocused.”
Van Camp says he always knew Ryan could succeed in the Information Systems program and he was simply encouraging Ryan to reach his potential.
“It is exciting to see all of our students grow intellectually and socially while they are at Marietta College. Ryan is no exception,” Van Camp says. “I saw Ryan grow in confidence academically during his time here. This confidence allowed him to ask more in-depth questions about things we were doing in class. Socially, Ryan interacts very well with the other students in class. We give each other a hard time, in a good way.”
Van Camp says he also appreciates Ryan’s subtle sense of humor.
“Ryan was the master of understatement. He may have set a school record for hurdles during the weekend, but when I would ask him how he did, his reply would be ‘I did OK,’ ” Van Camp says.
Evans says Ryan would be the first person to tell you that his work ethic has positively evolved during his four years at Marietta.
“Not just on the track, but in the classroom as well. His academic improvements and accomplishments have basically mirrored the improvements he has made on the track,” Evans says. “Ryan has become exceptionally good at setting realistic goals for himself, keeping his focus, doing the little things to achieve his goals. Very impressive self-motivation and confidence.”
TOM PERRY