Cross Country Letter
Cross Country Letter
Cross Country Letter
We hope you are enjoying the summer and gorgeous weather! The summer is a great
time for family, friends, and fun. An engaging way to combine all of these is through cross
country, which is an easy-going sport for everyone to enjoy.
Mrs. Erin Porter, a seventh and eighth grade English teacher at Portland Middle School,
is the head coach for middle school cross country, and Mrs. Alyssa Stemler, a seventh grade
math teacher, is the assistant coach. We look forward to an exciting season with a great group of
student-athletes!
Cross Country is a team and individual running sport. Middle school athletes race for two
miles on a course that covers varying terrain, depending on the course location. Courses can be
flat, hilly, grassy, dirty, or muddy, but all are a blast to run on! An unlimited number of athletes
are welcome (from 6th through 8th grade). Boys and girls do race separately at meets.
Cross Country is such a positive and meaningful sport for so many reasons:
● No one sits on the bench (everyone participates all the time).
● Every athlete gets to compete in every meet on the schedule.
● Running is a lifelong fitness activity that builds healthy exercise habits.
● Working out and competing with the cross country team is great training to get in shape
for other sports. We have many dual-sport athletes who run with us.
● Cross Country teaches discipline, confidence, patience, work ethic, goal setting,
teamwork, and perseverance.
● Cross Country is a challenging sport. Athletes must compete against others, themselves,
the clock, the course, and the weather – all in one competition!
● Cross Country attracts high-achieving, motivated students. Your child will be surrounded
by nice kids who are positive role models.
We will be using a texting service called Remind that allows us to send out reminders and
other information. If you are interested in receiving reminders via text, please sign up for these.
To sign up, text the message @pmscr to the number 81010. By doing this, your number will be
added to the group and you will receive the updates. Multiple lines can be signed up.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Coach Porter at
eporter@portlandk12.org.