Before the 3A state track meet, Renton High boys track and field coach Lance Winmill said his team had a chance to do something special. During the state meet his team proved him right, scoring 38 points and placing second in the state.

The Renton boys were the top-placing team of Renton-area schools, but they weren’t the only local teams doing well at the state meet. The Hazen boys placed eighth overall. The Liberty girls finished 11th.

The Renton girls (22nd), Liberty boys (26th), Lindbergh boys (29th) and Lindbergh girls (45th) also put up strong performances.

In addition to the top team performances, the Renton area also had three individual state champions: Ronnielle Kelly-Battles and Armin Basic from Renton High and Andrey Levkiv from Hazen.

Go here for full meet results.

Ronnielle Kelly-Battles

Renton’s Ronnielle Kelly-Battles knew he was due to break 23 feet in the long jump, and he picked the best possible time to do so. Kelly-Battles jumped a distance of 23 feet, 3 1/4 inches to win the 3A state long-jump title.

With the jump, Kelly-Battles took a state title and broke Renton High’s record — which was 23 feet, 3 inches.

“I knew sooner or later I had to jump 23 because I’d been jumping 22,” he said. “I knew there would be one day when I would just pop it off, and it had to be at state.”

Though Kelly-Battles made his winning jump early in the final round (on the first of his three jumps), he wasn’t worried about any other jumpers topping his mark.

He was also confident coming into the event, after steadily improving his distances through the season. Kelly-Battles jumped in the 20-foot range the first three meets of the year, then moved up into the 21-foot range, then topped 22 feet in the final three meets before state.

Kelly-Battles also jumped a personal-best distance of 45 feet, 3 1/2 inches in the triple jump at state, giving him a fourth-place finish.

Armin Basic

For Renton’s Armin Basic, it was a waiting game until he won his state discus title.

“I had three weeks of good practice leading up to state,” Basic said. “But at leagues it was just raining. Then at districts I PR’d (threw a personal record) but I knew I could do better.”

There was little doubt about winning in his mind once he got to state.

“I knew I won as soon as I stepped in,” Basic said. “After the warm-up throws, I just said, ‘I’ve got this.'”

Basic then rattled off a series of tosses topping 170 feet in the finals, a large crowd cheering after each one. In the end, it was his throw of 175 feet, 5 inches that would earn him the 3A state discus title and wipe out the competition.

Basic topped second place by nearly 22 feet, easily the biggest margin of victory in discus at state in all classifications.

He then went on to throw a personal-best distance of 57 feet, 4 1/4 inches in the shot put, good for second place.

Andrey Levkiv

Hazen’s Andrey Levkiv had all the motivation he needed in the shot put. After placing second at the state meet last season, he was determined to be on top of the podium this year.

“I thought I could’ve done better,” he said. “I just thought, next year. Next year I’ll do it.”

And he did. Levkiv unfurled a toss of 59 feet, 1 1/2 inches to take the 3A state shot-put title.

Though he rightfully wouldn’t concede victory before the state meet, Levkiv was Washington’s heavy favorite in the event all season. He was the only 3A thrower to top 60 feet and held the state’s longest distance all season.

“That’s a goal I made as a freshman, to win a state title,” Levkiv said.

Levkiv also earned a medal with sixth place finish in the discus, throwing 149 feet, 8 inches.

Throwers put on a show

Levkiv and Basic are part of what was a dominating Renton throwing group this season. Hazen’s Courtney Sanders placed third in the shot put, giving Hazen and Renton the top three spots in the event (Levkiv first, Basic second).

Renton throwing coach Keith Eager said the success this season wasn’t an accident; it had a lot to do with athletes putting in extra time in the offseason.

“Those kids put in a lot of work over the past two years,” he said. “This is definitely not something that just happened during this season.”

Lindbergh’s Jacob Allie finished third in the discus, giving Lindbergh and Renton two of the top three spots in that event, too. And don’t forget about Liberty’s Peter Stacy, also a state competitor (15th), or Lindbergh’s Zack Nielsen. Nielsen didn’t make state, but he was consistently one of the Seamount’s top discus throwers during the season, topping 168 feet twice.

“These are guys who have high goals,” Eager said. “And they perform at a high level physically and academically.”

Renton High’s girl throwers were nearly as good. Boryana Atanasova took fourth in discus, fifth in shot put and sixth in javelin at state. Atanasova’s teammate Roylanda Jackson took eighth place in the shot put.

Miland, Williams, Ponders and Hinckley also place

Other state placers on the boys side include Hazen’s Jeff Hinckley, who finished second in the pole vault. Hinckley cleared a height of 14 feet, 6 inches. Renton’s Tevin Ponders placed fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles, with a time of 14.98 seconds. Lindbergh’s Matt Miland placed eighth in the 3200. Miland ran a time of 9 minutes, 30.18 seconds. Lindbergh’s Makala Williams placed eighth in the triple jump. Williams jumped a distance of 35 feet, 5 inches.

Seamount shows up strong

With four boys teams in the top eight overall of the 3A competition, the Seamount established itself as the Washington’s best track and field league this season. The league also boasted seven state champions (two from Mount Rainier, two from Renton, two from Foster, one from Hazen).