Bellevue Athletes of the Year: Collin Bennett, Jenika Swanson

Just call Collin Bennett the Swiss Army Knife. The Newport senior can do it all.

Bennett made impact in every season at Newport

Just call Collin Bennett the Swiss Army Knife. The Newport senior can do it all.

Bennett, who graduated from Newport last week, was a three-sport athlete for the Knights and a 10-time letterman at the high school. Any doubt about Bennett’s on-field excellence can quickly be dispelled by a peek at his football highlight reel.

Two weeks ago, Newport head football coach Mike Miller watched that tape, a video chronicling the three years Bennett spent playing varsity football. At the end of the tape, one thought came to Miller’s mind.

How do you replace Collin Bennett?

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“He was like a kid in the candy store when he was on the field,” said Miller, who coached Bennett, a running back and safety, since his sophomore year. “Whether it was a big hit or an interception, he made big plays. He’s got a long highlight reel.”

Football isn’t the only sport Bennett made look easy. That list would include basketball, where Bennett would practically will the Knights to the post-season, as well as baseball, his best sport and the one he will continue to play next season.

An All-KingCo 1st-team performer in football and baseball and a 2nd-teamer in basketball, Bennett is the 2008 Bellevue Reporter Male Athlete of the Year.

“He is just one of those guys who comes around every 10 years or so,” said Brian Fischer, Newport baseball head coach. “He is where he is because of himself, not anyone else. He is really gifted and he’s worked at it.”

And if it’s possible for the three-sport athlete to get any better, now might be the time. By only focusing on baseball next year, Bennett will have a chance to throw all of his talents into one pot, as opposed to splitting time with three sports.

“He’s never had the opportunity to just focus on one sport, he’s always been in-season,” Miller said. “Now he has the opportunity to really focus and all of us can see big things coming from him.”

Bennett’s entire senior season seemed to be a highlight reel, one that started with a bang. In Newport’s 28-0 season-opening win over Liberty, he rushed for 100 yards and scored twice in the WIAA Kickoff Classic at Qwest Field. Bennett ended the season rushing for 531 yards and seven touchdowns, but made an even bigger impact on defense, where he earned first-team all KingCo honors patrolling the secondary as a hard-hitting safety and helping the Knights to a state appearance.

“We hadn’t made state in about 10 years and that was our goal,” Bennett said. “It was great to to accomplish that goal.”

The Knights ended the football season with a 21-10 loss to Bellevue in the second round of state. Less than a week later, Bennett was at work again, this time on the basketball floor where he averaged 14.6 points a game and helped lead the Knights to another post-season appearance, this time to the Sea-King District tournament. Many times, Bennett and junior Richard Woodworth, who averaged 15 points per game, were the entire Newport offense.

“Basketball was really fun, and I’m glad I decided to play again this year instead of focusing on baseball,” Bennett said. “Richard and I usually had the green light to take over games.”

After a season-ending loss to Cleveland, it wasn’t long before Bennett was at it again, this time on the baseball diamond, where he has made the biggest impact at Newport.

That impact started freshman year, Fischer said.

“We brought him up that year to practice and we had a scrimmage where he hit a home run,” he said. “That really opened up the coaches eyes. We knew he’d be something special.”

Bennett played varsity that year, a leap that not even Tripper Johnson, a former 1st-round pick in the MLB draft could make at Newport, a leap that even Todd Hollandsworth, a former Knight with 11 seasons in the majors, could not make. The next season he would start in centerfield and help lead the Knights to the 2006 state championship.

“He’s been playing at the highest level since he was a freshman and the kids would just follow him,” Fischer said. “He’s led by example, on and off the field.”

Bennett hit for a .359 average this season and led the Knights, to a second-place finish in the KingCo regular season before his season ended after a horrific outfield collision with fellow 1st-team All-KingCo teammate Blake Gibbs.

Leading 17-5 against Sammamish in the final game of the regular season on April 30, Bennett and Gibbs crashed into each other going after a fly ball. Gibbs, an Oregon State recruit, tore ligaments in both knees. Bennett took the full force of his larger teammate’s knees into his chest and lacerated his kidney.

“I was in the hospital for four days,” Bennett said. “It happened so quick that it’s hard to describe. But I’m feeling a lot better now.”

Bennett, who soon will begin playing summer ball for Lakeside Recovery, missed his SAT’s due to the hospital stay. That put his plans to play for Washington State next season in doubt.

“I’m looking at going to a community college and seeing it as a stepping-stone,” Bennett said. “There are benefits to that. But it has always been my passion to play WSU baseball.”

No matter what the course, there’s no doubt the city of Bellevue will hear more about Collin Bennett in the years to come, Fischer says.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he can play Division I and eventually get drafted into pro baseball,” he said. “I’d just like to have him around another four years.”

Without a doubt, Fischer isn’t the only Newport coach with that feeling.

Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-4270 ext. 5060 or jwillits@reporternewspapers.com.