MANKATO &045; Through no fault of their own, the United South Central Rebels were not at their best when it mattered most.

Sonny Berg of New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva was.

The Rebels, hampered by injuries and illness, finished a disappointing fourth in the Section 2A boys’ track and field meet at Mankato Saturday, earning one entry in the state meet, the 4×100-meter relay.

Berg, a sophomore, scored the only points for the Panthers while finishing second and qualifying for state in the 300 intermediate hurdles.

&uot;Sonny had a great 300 hurdles, his best race of the year,&uot; said Panthers co-coach Mike Weber.

Blue Earth, a team USC defeated earlier in the season, won the meet with 93 points. St. James had 48, Montgomery-Lonsdale 46, USC 44. Twenty teams scored.

The Rebels’ ran away with the 4×100 relay, with Shea Kaiser, Callan Pitcher, Bob Schmitz and Jon Voigt winning in 44.83 seconds.

Voigt just missed state in the pole vault, where he was third.

Also taking third was the 4×800 relay team of Erik Melby, Matt Mueller, Eric Youngblom and Jake Stenzel.

Other USC places: Voigt, fourth, 100 and sixth, 200; Kaiser, fifth, 100; Schmitz, sixth, 400; Chris Vondracek, fourth, 800; Steven Wood, fourth, 110 hurdles and fifth, 300 hurdles; Adam Kruger, fourth, shot put.

&uot;We had a few notable performances,&uot; said USC coach Kent Viesselman. &uot;Wood has had mono for nearly a month now, and has had only two or three very short practices in that time. I thought he performed well and I feel badly he wasn’t at 100 percent. Youngblom came down with tendonitis in his foot and hasn’t had any running workouts in nearly a month. He ran with a lot of pain, and really struggled the last four weeks of the season but, to his credit, he completed the season. I feel badly for Justin, he’s been a great leader for our team for two years and one of the better distance runners in the state.&uot;

The state meet is Friday and Saturday at the National Sports Center in Blaine.