On August 29, 2026, the Upper School, Middle School, and Lower School cross-country runners competed in the Battle of the Buff. This was a very successful race for the Upper School cross-country team. Many of the varsity runners, including freshman Makenna Clark, Dean Petska, Collin Flynn, Josh Moore, sophomores Everett Neuner, Brianna Dunne, Mason McAnally, William Mevius, Katherine Maguire, Jacoby Ogroske, juniors Bella Tucker, Cooper Huggins, seniors Luke McAnally, Carys Mejan, and Chase Thruman, beat their personal record times. Dunne added, “A lot of our runners beat their personal records at this meet, so it was a pretty amazing race for our team.” A good handful of the McKinney Christian Academy runners have run this course before and are therefore familiar with the layout, which can be a huge benefit when navigating the terrain. When sophomore Camden Holley was asked about his thoughts on his own performance, he stated, “I felt stronger than I did last week, but I don’t feel as though I did my best. The team has gotten a whole lot better, and I think that we are going to have a very strong season.”