A little determination seems to go a long way for United South Central/Alden-Conger’s Ciara Christenson.

The senior hurdler proved that Saturday as she medaled in both hurdle events and the 4×400 relay. Christenson entered the 100-hurdles with the slowest qualifying time, but overcame the wind and the rain to turn in a third-place finish.

“The head wind helped me a lot since I four-step,” she said. “I also was really determined today for that race.”

Christenson entered the race with a preliminary time of 15.98 and made the finals by three one-hundredths of a second. With a little wind in her face and a slick surface she excelled, much like her coach Kent Viesselman had predicted she might the day before and finished with a time of 16.39, just .19 seconds out of first place.

While most hurdlers take three steps before they jump, Christenson takes four because of her size. It worked to her advantage Saturday in the sloppy conditions.

“That gave her an advantage going into the wind because that didn’t mess her up at all,” Viesselman said. “I’m happy for her.”

Her performance in the 100 was a bit of foreshadowing as she delivered her finest performance of the day in the 300 and took second place with a time of 45.99.

It was the first time Christenson finished second in the event since her freshman season and she said it felt good.

“It’s nice to be a little taller on the podium,” she said.

She trailed the defending state champion, Kendra Mooberry, of Benson/KMS, who finished with a time of 44.85.

“I was so determined to get first place, but she was just too fast,” Christenson said. “That’s her race.”

Christenson finished the day with the 4×400 relay team of Hannah Goemann, Taylor Allis and Brianna Gormley. Together the four-some ran another exciting relay that went down to the wire.

“Those are good teams and we were awful close to the lead when it was all over,” Viesselman said.

The Rebels held an early lead and battled favorites Osakis and Adrian through the first three legs, but couldn’t keep up down the stretch and finished fifth. The team was seeded seventh and improved two spots.

“Everyone gave everything that they had,” Gormley said. “Ciara had two other races today and she gave every ounce of effort she had. “

The fifth-place finish gave Christenson her seventh state meet medal, which she planned on displaying proudly Sunday at her graduation party.

USC/A-C also qualified the 4×800 relay team for the boys and placed fifth with a time of 8:29.20.

The relay team of Matthew Wood, Tom Allis, Riley Swearingen and Jordan Haroldson hung near the end of the pack through the first two legs. Swearingen picked up a few spots and handed the baton to Haroldson who blew by three runners to put the Rebels into fifth position.

“He ran really well,” Viesselman said. “He ran a 2:01 in that cold and wind. That’s pretty impressive I thought.”