Boys track: Metea Valley's Cagigal reigns at home

It has been a long varsity boys track and field tenure for Metea Valley senior Jordan Cagigal.

But the nagging hamstring injuries for the Mustangs' sprinter were a distant memory after a 400-meter championship at his home sectional Thursday night in Aurora.

Cagigal bested all comers at the Class 3A Metea Valley sectional at the distance to earn his first state appearance next weekend at Eastern Illinois University.

"I think it's the first time we have ever had a sprint champion at the sectional," Metea Valley coach Aaron Lewis said after his prized senior won in 48.79 seconds, two seconds faster than St. Charles North junior Luke Sutherland.

"This year we put it all together in both the relays and the individual events," Cagigal said. "I think summer track helped a lot. I have been training with (former Neuqua Valley state champion and current Nebraska freshman) Ty Moss."

"It was a privilege that (Cagigal) could do it on his home track," Lewis said.

The Mustangs scored 48 points to tie St. Charles North for sixth place; Hoffman Estates had 91 points to turn back Geneva (81) for the team title.

The Mustangs' Ben Piotrowski, Derek Roberts, Nick Stack and Charlie Schafer began the night with a second-place finish in the 3,200 relay.

Cagigal teamed with Alonzo Taylor-Jones, Amiri Finner and Ben Loutsis in the following event - the 400 relay - to secure another state appearance.

Taylor-Jones and Finner later secured their own individual berths in the 100 dash and long jump, respectively.

West Chicago was shut out of state qualifiers in finishing tied for 10th.