PORTLAND, Ore. — Brent Ericksen, a two-time national coach of the year and national champion, has assumed the head coaching position for the Portland State track & field and cross country programs, Portland State Director of Athletics Mark Rountree announced Monday.
 
"We are absolutely thrilled coach Ericksen is joining Portland State," Rountree said. "He has 16 years of successful head coaching experience in track & field and cross country, having won two national championships at two different institutions. His teams also have a record of success in the classroom, so I know our student-athletes will have a great experience at PSU under his leadership."
 
Ericksen won his first national coach of the year honor in 2007 after leading the University of Wisconsin La Crosse men's team to the NCAA Division III outdoor track & field national championship. Ericksen's team won the 2007 title by a record margin of 65 points, and finished as the national indoor runners-up during the same year.
 
Ericksen won his second national title and national coach of the year honor at Southern Oregon in 2010, when he led the Raiders' men's cross country team to the NAIA national championship. Ericksen's women's cross country team also placed seventh nationally in 2010, giving Southern Oregon the combined team title as well.
 
Additionally, Ericksen served as the sprints and hurdles coach for the country of Estonia at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
 
"First of all I would like to thank Athletic Director Mark Rountree, Matt [Billings, Deputy Athletics Director], Lisa [Miller, Associate Athletics Director/SWA], and the rest of the staff," Ericksen said. "From the first time we met and through the interview process, you couldn't help but feel the energy and enthusiasm they have for PSU athletics and the sports of men's and women's 's cross country and track & field. That, combined with the opportunity to compete at the highest level and PSU'S location in such a great city like Portland make this a very attractive position."
 
Ericksen takes over a Viking program that is coming off of one of its best seasons in school history. The Vikings set a program record with two NCAA national qualifiers during the outdoor track & field season, and saw sophomore Baileh Simms become just the third Viking to earn second-team NCAA All-American honors with her 15th-place finish in the women's long jump. Additionally, the Viking cross country programs set a number of historical marks during the fall, especially the Viking women, who placed sixth in the Big Sky for their best finish within the conference since 2007.
 
Ericksen would appear to have the tools to continue the Vikings' upward trend, as Ericksen has proven himself as a program builder at his various coaching stops, starting with his first head coaching job at the University of Texas A&M-Kingsville. Ericksen took over a program that had only eight men and five women in 2000 and turned it into a program that placed in the top 10 nationally in five of the next six seasons, and produced 77 NCAA Division II All-Americans and 10 NCAA Division II national champions by the time he left in 2006.
 
Ericksen faced a similar situation when he took over the Southern Oregon track & field and cross country programs in 2008. Given only one scholarship per gender, Ericksen grew the SOU programs from a low of 16 members in 2008 to 80 members by the time he left in 2011.
 
Ericksen turned the Raiders around nearly instantaneously, as he took the 2008 Southern Oregon men's cross country team that was picked to finish fourth in its conference and led them to a fourth-place finish in the nation.
 
Ericksen also led the Morehead State men's and women's cross country teams to their highest finishes in program history, and saw his athletes set 15 new outdoor track records during his tenure from 2011-14. Ericksen led a turnaround academically at Morehead State as well, as his men's track & field team improved from a 2.42 GPA to a 3.50 GPA in his time at the school, while his women's team posted the fifth-highest team GPA in NCAA Division I track & field. Additionally, nine of Ericksen's athletes at Morehead State posted a 4.0 during the 2014 spring semester.
 
Ericksen's time at Morehead State was his second foray into Division I athletes, as he also served as the associate head coach of cross country and track & field at Texas A&M Corpus Christi from 2007-08. There, Ericksen coached Shadrack Songok to the NCAA outdoor 10,000-meter title, and to a seventh-place overall finish at the 2007 NCAA cross country national championships.
 
Most recently at Pacific for the 2014-15 season, Ericksen oversaw 16 new school records in his one season with the Boxers, and coached the first athlete in Northwest Conference history to win all three jumping events at the conference championships. Ericksen also produced Pacific's first men's individual conference cross country champion in 38 years in the fall.
 
Overall, Ericksen has coached 16 national champions and 141 all-americans across all levels of his 16-year collegiate coaching career, and earned a total of 11 coach of the year honors.
 
COACH ERICKSEN'S PROFILE
Coaching experience
• Head Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Coach, Pacific University, 2014-15
• Head Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Coach, Morehead State University, 2011-14
• Head Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Coach, Southern Oregon University, 2008-11
• Associate Head Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Coach, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 2007-08
• Head Men's Track & Field Coach, University of Wisconsin La Crosse, 2006-07
• Head Men's & Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Coach, University of Texas A&M-Kingsville, 2000-06
• Assistant Coach, sprints and hurdles, Estonia, 2004 Athens Olympics
 
Coaching highlights
• Two-time national champion (2007 NCAA Division II outdoor track & field with Wisconsin La Crosse; 2010 NAIA cross country with Southern Oregon)
• Two-time national coach of the year
• 141 all-americans coaches
• 16 national champions
• 11 total coach of the year honors