Former Aggie high jumper Benders headed for the hall
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BVM) — North Carolina A&T will be inducting a new face into their Sports Hall of Fame. That’ll be the face of Odell Benders, who led a legendary track and field career at the school. If you asked Benders though, he’d say that there are so many others that should be inducted with him because without them, his career wouldn’t have been possible.
In high school, as a student at East Carteret, Benders originally played football and basketball. He was hesitant to join track and field because he didn’t think he was fast enough. But thanks to the persistence of a teammate, Eddie Murrell, asking him to come out for the team, he got his start in track and field.
Being able to dunk a basketball with ease, Benders thought that the natural fit for him would be high jump. That decision paid dividends in the end. He became a back-to-back 2A state champion in the event, posting jumps of 6 feet 10.25 inches and 6 feet 6 inches. However, his high school success wasn’t enough to get him to commit to the sport.
He had his mind set on joining the Navy, with college not even being an option. But his dad convinced him to continue along his athletic path. Without that conversation, his storied career may have never taken place. But instead of committing to track and field after his high school career, he went to Fayetteville State University to play football.
Enter his high school teammate, Darron Frazier. Frazier was a triple jumper at North Carolina A&T. He did some talking with Benders, told him to use his talents on the Aggies track and field team, and the rest is history. Benders transferred and was on a partial scholarship his first season. After performing well, he earned a full scholarship and his career blossomed.
Benders went on to win three Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships: The 1996 and 1997 outdoors and the 1997 indoors. He also placed as the runner-up in the 1996 and 1998 indoors. He received all-MEAC honors in five of his seven seasons as a high jumper for the Aggies, and set the school record in the high jump at 7 feet 2 inches.
The former track and field star says he was surprised to open the mail and see that he’s getting inducted into the university’s hall of fame. He feels blessed, but he had one last thank you for the honor. His former Aggie teammate and a fellow university hall of famer, Shenan Robinson, was the one who nominated him. During that time, Robinson was battling cancer and liver failure, and died just a month after nominating Benders. Now, Benders will live with him for eternity in the North Carolina A&T Sports Hall of Fame. The hall of fame weekend induction was originally slated for September of this year, but the Class of 2020 will now be honored in 2021 due to COVID-19.
Without all these special people in his life, Benders’ career might have been a lot different. A story of what could have been. But instead, he’ll be forever remembered in the history of Aggies athletics.
