The Renton boys dominated the West Central District 2A track and field meet May 20-21 with Justin Bennett and P.J. Benedictus combining for seven district titles.

The Indians also won a team district title, scoring 92 points. The second- place team scored 61 points.

“I expected pretty much what we got,” said Renton boys coach Lance Winmill. “We have a couple of major studs in Justin Bennett and P.J. Benedictus. The other guys are really solid … You cross your fingers and hope you perform as well as it looks like you could on paper.”

Benedictus won the high jump, long jump and triple jump. Bennett won the 100-meter dash and 200. Both were part of Renton’s winning 4 X 100 relay, along with Robert Reeves III and Immanuel Carter.

Benedictus and Carter, both seniors, form an impressive duo for Renton.

Benedictus won a 3A state title in the triple jump last year and will compete at Washington State University next year. He’s added another weapon to his arsenal this year.

“We knew coming in that P.J. would be really strong in the long jump, triple jump and relays,” Winmill said. “We didn’t know he was going to be high jumping until midway through the season. We wanted to just see how he would do. He jumped 6-foot-6 in practice and we kept going with that.”

Bennett is making a huge impact in his first season on the team.

“I’ve been the head coach here for 12 years and a lot of fast guys have come through Renton. Justin is by far the fastest,” Winmill said.

Bennett has school records in the 100, 200 and 4 X 100 relay. And there’s room to grow. Winmill said he could still be faster getting out of the blocks.

Carter won the 400 and finished fourth in the long jump. Adriel Paine IV placed second in the 800. Saugat Chhetri finished sixth in the 3,200. Renton’s 4 X 400 team took third (Paine, Carter, Delroy Mukungatu and Hamilton Carter).

Winmill’s main goal was to get everyone through the season healthy.

“We’ve won leagues before. We’ve won districts before. But we haven’t won state recently,” Winmill said. “We could do something at the state meet we haven’t done in a long time.”

Renton last won a state team track title in 1957. The Indians finished second at the 3A state meet in 2009 behind state titles from Ronielle Kelly-Battles (long jump) and Armin Basic (discus).

The state meet is May 26-28 at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

State favorites?

Bennett has the state’s top 2A 200-meter dash time so far this year at 21.89 seconds. He is 0.04 seconds back from the top time in the 100.

Benedictus is first in 2A in the triple jump, one foot, 3.5 inches ahead of the second-best distance. He is second in the long jump, 4.5 inches back from the leader. He’s tied for second in the high jump, two inches back from the leader.

Renton’s 4 X 100 relay team (Bennett, Benedictus, Reeves III and Carter) has the best 2A time in the state at 42.29 seconds.