Hall of Fame
Bender was a two-time national qualifier for the NAIA National Championship and a two-time all-conference performer for the men's cross country team from 2002-06. Also a strong student, he was a three-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete majoring in theater. Bender had some of the best distance-running ability that Point Park had ever seen to that date or since. He broke through to the national stage with an 8K-time of 27:28 in the 2004 AMC Meet. He followed that up with a then-personal record time of 26:58 at the NAIA meet. His junior year of 2005 featured a time of 26:54 at the AMC Meet to qualify for nationals. There, he raced to a career-best time of 26:20. Although he narrowly missed out on NAIAs as a senior, Bender set a standard for Point Park cross country that allowed the program to progress to its current status.
