PORTLAND, Ore. — When the Portland State cross country program toes the line Friday at the Lewis & Clark Opener for its first meet of the 2025 season, the Vikings will do so while still in build mode.
 
After all, they're still…
 
Building a relationship with new coaches.
 
Building a base of fitness for longer races later in the season.
 
And building a healthy team culture that comes from the student-athletes and is enforced by the student-athletes.
 
The latter is a particular point of emphasis for new head coach Joseph Blue. With a master's degree in college counseling and student affairs, Blue has been a culture builder at each one of his previous stops as an assistant coach. And with him stepping into a program that has seen two coaching changes over the past three years, it's a skill set that's needed.
 
"Our team is focused on the process. We're trying to build a strong culture where [student-athletes] feel very supported and they're holding each other accountable to be a strong team," Blue said.
 
"[The culture] can't be built without them. We want them to have a real relationship with us, so we can hold them accountable, but then so can their teammates."
 
So, don't expect Coach Blue to drop a "We should be finishing here" in any preview this season. While results are still important to Blue and the Vikings, Blue's focus since taking the reins has been firstly on the foundation of the program. The results will come thereafter.
 
"We're building better people, not just the athlete," Blue said. "We want them to leave here and have the mindset of, 'I know how to get through adversity. I know how to have good teamwork. I know how to hold myself accountable. And I can help others do that, too, because I helped my teammates do it.'
 
"When the culture's grown, then we talk more about race results. But right now, [the cultural] things are huge to me. If we can build their mind and make sure their body is right, then they're good kids. They're athletes. They'll be able to do something."
 
To that end, Blue has established a series of "Championships Meetings" which will take place every month. The first one came on the cross country program's report date of Aug. 14. Blue had his athletes watch Brett Ledbetter's TED Talk "Building Your Inner Coach" and then discussed it with them, emphasizing Ledbetter's points about positive self-talk.
 
"We've all gone through moments where we're going through something tough and we talked to ourselves in a negative light. But when we talked to somebody else going through something, we might talk to them better than we talk to ourselves. So, them working on positive self-talk is going to help them get through a lot more adversity. Because that's what it's going to take to be a champion," Blue said of showing the video.
 
Assistant coach Nick Merillana led his own team-bonding experience in the leadup to the Vikings' first race of the season. Merillana, the Vikings' cross country and distance coach, asked his athletes to bring in an item important to them that communicated why they love to run. He then asked them to share the meaning behind their item to the rest of the team.
 
"We had people who got really emotional talking about family members that they've lost, injuries that they've gone through, what they're really looking forward to for this program and with this season. The goal was to build a bond with one another," Merillana said of the exercise.
 
For his part, Blue has been intentional about establishing a relationship with each individual athlete on the cross country team. While Merillana has led the distance runners in training, Blue has ensured he has facetime with the athletes even without a distance background in his coaching resume.
 
Once the team starts traveling to meets together, then the relationships between everyone in the program should grow even stronger. Friday's first meet doesn't afford too much travel time together, of course. The Vikings only have to jump over to the east side for the race at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Ore. But later meets in California and further down I-5 will give the Vikings a chance to grow together.
 
Friday's meet will be one of several at the start of the season where the Vikings race under their usual distances. Both the men and women will run a 5k. That'll mark the shortest distance for the Viking men since they ran a 3.8-kilometer race in a dual meet with University of Portland during their 2005 season. The men won't run an 8k until the Mike Johnson Classic on Sept. 27, which is also when the Viking women will run their first 6k of the season.
 
But again, that buildup is intentional. From a practical perspective, the Vikings need time to train together to build their foundation of fitness. And while that's happening, they'll build their bonds together as teammates, as well as their bonds with their new coaches.
 
 Once that's built, then Blue will talk results.
 
"I want the team to feel like they can grow here. I want them to feel pride in being a Viking. I want them to feel pride in being a cross country or track & field athlete. If we can instill that, then we can get them to do anything," Blue said of his goals for his first year at the helm of the program.
 
"The coaching part is the easy part. But it's very hard when people aren't bought in."
 
MEET INFO
Friday, Aug. 29 – Lewis & Clark Opener – Estacada, Ore. (Milo McIver State Park)
 
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Live Results
 
MEET SCHEDULE
Time (PT) – Event
9:30 a.m. – Women's 5k
10 a.m. – Men's 5k