Cape Central freshman Brittany Ballard changed into slower shoes after winning the girls Class 4A District 1 race Saturday.

JACKSON -- Brittany Ballard has potential.

But who could have known she would begin to realize it this soon?

Ballard, a slightly-built freshman from Cape Central, won the Class 4A, District 1 girls cross country meet Saturday at Jackson City Park.

Ballard finished the 3.1-mile course in 20 minutes and one second, safely ahead of Jackson's Julie Wunderlich, who finished second in 20:22.

"The first time I saw her run, I said, `that's a runner,'" Central cross country coach Mark Hahn said. "She's so efficient. I don't think we really expected it today, though."

Ballard passed Wunderlich slightly over one mile into the race and ran comfortably to the finish.

"I was just thinking I wanted to win," said Ballard, who finished second behind teammate Myka Bohnsack at the SEMO conference meet last week. "I wasn't going to let Jackson pass me."

Led by Wunderlich, however, Jackson won the girls' team competition with 29 points. It was the Indians' first district cross country championship since 1991.

Cape Central finished second with 33 points. Poplar Bluff (99) and Lindbergh (109) finished third and fourth.

Those four teams advance as teams to the Missouri Class 4A sectional at Queeny Park in west St. Louis County on Saturday, as do any runners in the top 30 of each race. The girls race begins at 11 a.m. The boys race is at 11:40.

Jackson won despite an injury to one of its top runners. Amanda Beussink stepped in a hole halfway through the race and injured her ankle. She was unable to finish.

"That just evened us out with Central, since they had a girl (Kim Pancoast) who was injured and couldn't run," Jackson coach Jim Stoverink said. "I thought our girls ran really tough."

Sarah Stiegemeyer finished fourth in 20:47 for Jackson. Teammate Jennifer Brown was fifth in 20:56.

"We ran as a pack and stayed out toward the front," Brown said. "Sarah Stig broke out first, and I followed. She's at her peak right now."

Central's Myka Bohnsack finished third in 20:39. The SEMO conference champion suffered from stomach discomfort and shin splints.

"I felt slow," Bohnsack said. "But I couldn't go any faster."

"I kept looking behind me to see if she was there," said Wunderlich, a junior who completed the same course in 19:22 while finishing second in districts last year. "She was like 75 yards and then 100 yards back. But I felt like I ran a great race anyway."

Central's Leanne Lee (21:05), Jackson's Sarah Schlick (21:11) and Central's Rachel Sprigg (21:22) medaled, finishing seventh and eighth and tenth respectively.

For Central, Lori Bittle was 17th (22:09), Katie Hawkins 25th (22:58) and Liz Meyr 26th (23:00).

For Jackson, Sarah Strack was 14th (22:04) and Christy Thoma 28th (23:14).

As usual, Northwest (House Springs) dominated the boys' district race. Four Lions medaled: Larry Davis (second), Mike Nelson (third), Devin McCall (fourth) and David Kunzle (ninth).

Mehlville's Scott Reeves won the race in 16:51.

Central qualified for districts with a second-place finish; it's best in the six years since Hahn took over the team.

Sophomore Mark Stone led the Tigers with a fifth-place finish in 17:24.

"The mile was fast," said Stone, who finished a close second to teammate Jonathan Anderson at last week's SEMO Conference meet. "It was probably a little too fast. I was just really wanting to stay with the pack, but these last couple of races, I've wanted to get going a little quicker."

David Stahr was seventh (17:39) and Anderson rounded out the local medalists with a tenth-place finish (17:44).

"I felt pretty good the first mile," Anderson said. "But the last mile I was just worn out. I didn't have it."

Central's Justin Hawkins finished 11th in 17:46. Teammate Gabe Austin was one step behind in 12th. Matt Hawkins finished 22nd in 18:20.

Jackson did not qualify as a team in the boys' meet, finishing fifth with 147 points, but three individuals advance to sectionals. Blake Popp was 17th, with a time of 18:03. Zach Friedrich finished 26th (18:38) and John Minson was 27th (18:39).