Arkansas State University

Ryland was a world-class track and field athlete and competed in the 100, 200 and 400-meter races and the pole vault and decathlon events. He holds the A-State record for the most points scored in a decathlon with 7,395, a mark he set in 2000. He also held the previous Arkansas State decathlon points record of 7,031 that was set in June of 1998 at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships. Ryland is a two-time champion in the decathlon at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships, claiming the top spot in 1997 and 1998.

The Deville, La., native also racked up several Sun Belt Conference championships during his career. He was the SBC Outdoor Track and Field top scorer in 1999 with 25.5 points and also captured the decathlon championship with 6,631 points. During his indoor career, he won championships in the 200 and 400-meter dashes and the SBC Indoor Track and Field pole-vaulting championship in 2002. His time of 21.18 seconds in the 200-meter dash is the ninth fastest in A-State history and his time of 10.46 is 10^th fastest in the 100-meter dash.