Evans signs with Dickinson University

By Dale Woodard on April 22, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDsports@lethbridgeherald.com

The COVID-19 pandemic sacked Ryan Evans’ high school football season last fall.

Hardly an ideal situation for any football player, especially one heading into their graduating season, but the pandemic instead opened the door for Evans to take off running — and throwing — in another sport the multifaceted athlete excelled in throughout his high school career.

Now, after many record-shattering sprints to the finish line combined with many lengthy javelin and discus throws, the LCI graduate is heading south of the border this fall, having penned a four-year scholarship with Dickinson University in North Dakota, where he will compete in decathlon.

The pandemic sent his football aspirations to the sidelines, but it ultimately opened the door for decathlon as Evans instead doubled down on his track and field events alongside longtime coach Bertil Johansson.

“One thing I can really appreciate about it is without COVID I probably would have chosen football and that probably wouldn’t have been as good for my head, having the concussions I’ve had in the past, said Evans. “So really, I think it could be a blessing in disguise, just having the inability to play one sport and then being able to focus on the resources I had like Bertil to get me where I need to go.”

On Tuesday night with his family looking on, Evans put the pen to the paper of his four-year scholarship.

“It means a lot,” said Evans. “Having Bertil by my side the whole way and putting in a lot of work and not really hanging out with friends too much in the summer and just focusing on me and making sure I’m getting in all the work so I can get the personal records to get the coach’s attention, it took a lot of hard work.”

A few familiar faces await him with his older brother, John, and his wife already attending Dickinson University.

With a few other U.S. universities scouting him out, the family aspect as well as Dickinson University’s reputable track program ultimately won out for Evans.

That, and apparently his sister-in-law’s cooking skills.

“Having family there, my first time away from home, it’s going to be nice having my brother and his wife, so she can cook for me,” said Evan with a chuckle. “Dickinson University is the best track team in the conference as well. They have a real love for decathlon and I think really help me reach my potential. I had a couple of really good coaches, but it was also the balance of the scholarship and the family, what was going to be the best for me.”

His trek down to Dickinson in the fall will be Evans’ first, but his post secondary home won’t be completely sight-unseen, having taken a few virtual tours of the campus.

“My brother has sent videos and pictures of the weight room. It sounds a lot like Lethbridge. It’s really windy and about the same population,” said Evans, who will study pre-med with a business minor.

The track season at Dickinson starts with heptathlon in the winter with the indoor meets and then decathlon closer to the summer in the outdoors.

After dominating his track events in southern Alberta, Evans looks forward to kicking it up a notch to the U.S. university ranks and learning a thing or two.

“I’m really excited to train with people who are better than me in certain events,” he said. “I’m excited for people to be able to strengthen me in my weak events and I’ll also be able to compete in my stronger events as well.

“The coach really wanted me to focus on javelin because he said that’s a pretty weak event in the conference. From what I’ve seen and heard, I think that will be one of my stronger events as I go over there. I just recently broke a PR by four metres. I threw 49 metres with the javelin as well as discus. I think mainly in decathlon, I’ll hopefully be a step ahead in the throws and maybe in the runs, the short-distance sprints as well.”

Johansson is certainly familiar with the Evans family, having also coached John and Tyler.

“I’m certainly proud of Ryan and the way we’ve worked since he was in Grade 10, maybe even slightly before that,” said Johansson. “I worked with his two brothers before that. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to work with them after my 30-some years at Lethbridge College and it’s been very exciting. With Ryan being a multi-sport athlete just like his brothers, he maybe had a bit more love to decathlon and multiple events. He researched it, he was online and googled everything about decathlon. So I’m very proud he was able to go that route because through COVID there weren’t many opportunities to do individual events.”

And when COVID shut down sports and facilities, Evans put his head down and kept working.

“We weren’t sure if football was going to happen or not (as well as) basketball,” said Johansson. “Then they shut it down with no sports whatsoever and no weight room. After that it is calisthenics, working in his garage and working in the basement. We Facetimed each other to make sure he did the technique properly and set up a whole bunch of cycles so he had a plan for the future.

“We’ve gone through all kinds of challenges with facilities. For him to stay with me and trust me, obviously that developed over the years. He has been very respectful and worked hard the whole time. He just wanted it so bad.”

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