On Thursday, March 27, fourth-year Ryan Tona competed in the Texas Relays, breaking the University of Rhode Island’s decathlon record in his first attached meet in two seasons.

Tona was the lone Ram to make the 1,909-mile trip to Austin, Texas, and he returned triumphant as he achieved what he set out to do: break Rhode Island Head Coach Trent Baltzell’s 12-year-old record in the decathlon.

“We had known what we wanted to do prior to going down there,” Tona said. “The goal was to break the school record.”

Tona broke the record with a score of 7,189 points, surpassing Baltzell’s record of 7,075. It was an achievement made even more satisfying due to the work it took to get back into uniform, according to Tona. This achievement also earned Tona Atlantic 10 Conference Field Performer of the Week.

In December 2023, Tona nearly broke Rhode Island’s heptathlon record; then in 2024, Tona underwent multiple surgeries, one on his ulnar collateral ligament and another on his ankle. Following his surgeries, Tona would only compete in Rhode Island’s meets unattached, meaning Tona competed alongside his teammates, but his performance didn’t count toward the team’s points.

“The recovery was definitely long, and it started for me in June when I got the first surgery,” Tona said. “I couldn’t start practicing until this past January. It was definitely a mental struggle more than anything… But the reward at the end was definitely sweet.”

Due to Tona’s surgeries, he was forced to work more on his linear running while recovering, something that ended up benefitting Tona in Texas. Tona set new personal records in the 100-meter and 1,500-meter, with times of 11.00 seconds and 4:40.50 minutes, respectively.

“That was a lot of the only types of workouts I could do leading up to this meet,” Tona said. “I couldn’t jump on my ankle yet, so all I could do was linear running… So I’m glad that it did actually pay off in the meet.”

Even with his record-breaking performance, both Tona and Baltzell felt his time could have been even better.

“Me and coach Trent reflected on it, and we both knew we left a lot of meat on the bone,” Tona said. “The performance I had, regardless of the record, was subpar for what kind of shape I’m in.”

Part of this belief stems from the thunder and lightning that Tona experienced on the second day. Tona and Baltzell sat beneath the bleachers of the Mike A. Myers Stadium for three hours with nothing but a spin bike. While Tona had built up the necessary discipline from his two surgeries, he believes the presence of Baltzell made a world of difference.

“To do a decathlon alone is super hard, but when you have a guy like coach Trent by your side just helping you… it’s super motivating,” Tona said. “I couldn’t have done it without him, and I owe a lot to him. He even trained with me for the past two weeks to help me prepare for the 1,500 just to pace me, and that meant a lot to me.”

Baltzell set the school record in May 2013; since then, the Rams have seen eight new entries into the top 10. Only the indoor 800-meter has seen as many new entries since that day back in 2013.

“We’ve had so many great decathletes over the last 15 years, and many of them certainly had an opportunity to break it,” Baltzell said. “As a coach, to finally have someone break the record, it’s honestly a relief. I had it long enough; I was proud of it. Was it the best I could’ve done? No. I probably could’ve set the bar quite a bit higher, but that’s just how the decathlon goes.”

Rhode Island also sent 10 athletes to compete in the Bryant University Black & Gold Invitational on Friday; the Rams scored 23 points and placed 12th out of the 16 schools that competed. The highlight of the meet was fifth-year Alexander Baez winning the hammer throw event with a toss of 58.23 meters.

Rhode Island will be back in action on Saturday in Smithfield for the Ocean State Cup.

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