SAN ANTONIO – Further bolstering the Roadrunners’ multi-events squad for the coming season, UTSA Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox announced on Wednesday, July 9, that the Roadrunners will welcome Dutch multi-event champion Ryan Heeren to the roster for the upcoming 2025 season.
"We’re excited to add another high-ceiling athlete to our multi-event crew,” Fox said. “Ryan’s trajectory over the past two years will make him a solid addition to our squad and we can’t wait to get him to San Antonio to get to work reaching his goals on the track and in the classroom.”
Hailing from Breda, Netherlands, Heeren is fresh off winning the Dutch U20 Combined Events Championships in the decathlon with a career-best 6,949 points on July 6 at Sportpark Stadsbroek in Assen, Netherlands – registering four career bests in the title victory by topping the 100-meter with a personal-best time of 11.06, the 400-meter with a PB time of 49.74, the long jump with a PB measurement of 6.93m (22-9), shot put on a mark of 12.46m (40-10.5), 110-meter hurdles on a PB 14.56 clocking and pole vault at 3.76m (12-4). His scores are on a major upswing this summer, logging a third-place finish in his previous multis outing with a combined 6,807 points at the Heerenveen Meerkamp U20 in Heerenveen, Netherlands on June 1. He won the 100-meter section with an 11.19 clocking, finishing second in the 400m (49.94) and javelin (47.57m/156-1) and scoring third in five additional events. In February, Heeren won the 60-meter hurdles at the ASICS Dutch U20 Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, clocking a career-best 8.21 seconds for the national title, while also reaching 6.83m (22-5) for third in the long jump. Just one week earlier, he posted bronze at the same facility in the heptathlon at the Dutch U20 Indoor Combined Events Championships, scoring a career mark of 5,237 points after winning the 60-meter section (7.21) and hitting a 6.86m (22-6.25) leap for second in the long jump section.
Last season, Heeren was seventh outdoor at the Dutch U20 Combined Events Championships, registering a decathlon score of 6,247 points, winning the 100m section. In 2023, he scored a fifth-place 6,004 decathlon mark – paced by a victory in the 100m section.
- UTSA -