Grace Cross Country Runners Off To Strong Start

Grace Christian School’s cross country runners have turned in some strong performances during the early season meets and the results are showing up in the state rankings. 

MileStat recently posted its Top 500 runners in the state and the Warriors are represented in both the boys’ and girls’ rankings. The rankings list runners from all six public school classifications plus all private school and homeschool runners.

Grace senior Georgia Babish has been running at the front of the pack this season. Babish won the Black Division at Knights’ Crossing and this past Saturday she placed second in the Augusta County Invitational. Babish is ranked No. 51 in the MileStat Top 500.

Senior runners Jed Derrick and Canon Reid have been steady performers for the Warriors’ boys’ team. Derrick is ranked No. 237 and Reid checks in at No. 351 in the Top 500 list. Derrick cracked the Top 10 at the Augusta County meet with an eighth-place finish while Reid landed In the Top 20 at No. 18 across the finish line.

While seniors lead the way for the Warriors there is some young talent in the pipeline. MileStat also released its Top 400 freshmen runners and the Warriors have one boy and one girl listed. 

So far this season, Grace’s Holly Kahn has been the top ninth-graders among local girls. At the Augusta County meet, Kahn finished 21st overall. Among the state’s top freshmen, Kahn cracked the Top 100 at No. 98,

On the boys’ side, Grace’s Caleb Lum is ranked No. 118 among the state’s ninth-graders. Lum was Grace’s fourth scorer at the Augusta County meet, finishing behind teammates Derrick, Reid and Isaac Ranck. Ranck is ranked among the Top 200 juniors in the state.