Ten years ago, the thought of a shot to be in the Olympics wasn't even in Ben Kendell '18, '19 mind. How often does that enter the mind of a 17-year-old who wasn't even in this country? He was a junior in high school at the International School of Turin in Italy, taken abroad due to his father's job. 

Fast forward that to Dec. 2, 2022. The setting was the California International Marathon and the two-time graduate of UDM just put himself in a position to represent his country. Kendell took 17th in the event in 2:15:49 to qualify for the United States Olympic Marathon trials, set for Feb. 3, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. 

"You think of the Olympics and say, that would be cool, but it was just a lofty aspiration and never really tangible," said Kendell. "It is crazy to think that nearly 10 years ago, I was coming in as a freshman and definitely not thinking about the Olympics. The goal was to contribute, have a good season and adapt to college. Never thought about the Olympics."

In the history of the track and field and cross country programs, four Titans have participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials in William Daly '36 (1936), Wally Gruber '49 (1948), current Director of Cross Country & Track and Field Guy Murray '89 (2000) and Colin Cashner '15 (2016). 

"I am very excited. We had two final races in October and I set another PR, and now, the main training block for the trials starts, so it is about getting in that mindset and getting ready for it all," said Kendell. 

His trek to Detroit Mercy might have been predictable, yet unconventional. His mother, Michelle Kendell (Vogt), was a member of the first-ever women's cross country team in 1984 and MCC championship squads in 1986 and 1987, graduating with a business degree. His dad, William Kendell, lettered in fencing and earned his bachelor's and master's degree in engineering. Today, he is the Senior Vice President of North America Customer Experience at Stellantis, but in 2014, he was Head of Quality at Maserati, which brought the family to Italy. 

"For me, college was about looking for my education and engineering," said Kendell. "Even with the ties my parents had there, the running aspect wasn't really big for me; it was about finding the right fit academically. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to run, but that was really secondary. It was about finding the right place for my education. I have always had a more technical, science, and problem-solving skill set, and my dad, being an engineer as well, definitely influenced me to the path I was going on. When the opportunity to come to Detroit Mercy, with the engineering program and the ability to run, it was all there for me."

His college career was nothing short of remarkable, both in competition and in the classroom. In cross country, he was All-Horizon League First Team in all four years, winning the individual conference title in 2018 as a senior, while finishing runner-up twice and fifth as a freshman. That fifth-place finish helped the Titans win the Horizon League Championship, and he was also selected the Outdoor Athlete of the Year following his victorious run as a graduate senior. He ended his cross country career in style, taking silver at the 2018 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship — the highest place in a regional run by a Titan in school history and the best league finish since 2008 — and placing 95th at the NCAA DI National Championship with a school 10k record. Kendell's name is all over the Detroit Mercy record books as he owns the school mark in the 4-mile (19:39 at 2018 Running Fit-Detroit Mercy Titan Invitational), 8k (23:54 at 2018 Great Louisville Classic) and 10k (30:35 at 2018 NCAA GLR) with six career wins and five more runner-up performances.

In track, he was a four-time Horizon League champion, winning the indoor 3000-meters in 2017 and 2018 and the outdoor 5,000m in 2019 and the 10,000m in 2015. He was also runner-up in the 10,000m in 2016 and 2018. Kendell was chosen the Horizon League Male Outdoor Athlete of the Year in 2019 as he broke the HL record in the 5,000m at 14:23.94. He qualified for the 10,000m at the NCAA East Preliminary Championship twice, taking 20th in 2018 and 21st in 2019 with a time of 30:06 in both years.

"When I look back at my favorite athletic memories, an obvious one is my last year, where I led the regionals from almost the entire race and qualified for the NCAA Championships," said Kendell. "But, I would say my favorite was my freshman year, where we won it all as a team. I didn't win it, but we won by just two points, so we needed everybody, and just having all of us there, celebrating and winning as a team, is really the memory I love the most."

At the end of his career, he was chosen the Detroit Mercy's President's Award for the top senior student-athlete and the Horizon League's Coleman Medal of Honor, presented to the league's top student-athlete who best exemplifies the dignity and high purpose of the league and its membership. 

"I was very happy to find my niche at Detroit Mercy, and being able to work with what you got made me a stronger runner and person, I believe," said Kendell. "I know the bigger schools have more resources, but being able to achieve and push yourself with what you have definitely prepared me for this and my career. In some respects, that is more helpful than having all these resources; having that determination and underdog mentality can fuel you to push more and give you something more to prove. I think that all gave me that boost to achieve what I did. The people excelling in running post collegiately are not all big school runners. It is people who stick with it and who know how to compete with that nose to the grindstone mentality."

It was during his graduate senior year in 2019 that the idea of competing professionally started to gain more strength. After college, he joined the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, which devotes itself to runners coming out of college who have demonstrated the ability and wish to continue running but haven't quite advanced to the next level with the Olympics as the ultimate focus. 

"I was getting better times all across the board and still improving, and it was something that entered my mind," said Kendell. "I thought I had a lot more I could give, a lot more I could improve on, and seeing the times at the national level gave me that confidence that I could believe in myself and continue training after college."

The training started right after college and has led him to take part in various professional races. Some of his highlights have seen him claim second (30:22) in the 10k Detroit Turkey Trot in 2019, third (49:12) in the Crim Festival of Races 10-mile in 2022 and fourth (1:04:12) in the Rock'n Roll San Jose half marathon in 2023. 

The schedule is grueling and complex. On a daily basis, there are 1-2 runs every day. Two runs a day, three to four times a week, and 2-3 times a week there are workouts on the track with 3-5 mile repeats. On average, the workouts consist of 12-18 miles a day and 90-105 miles a week, hitting up to around 140 miles a week at times. 

"For the most part, all the workouts are in the morning. I have a part-time engineering job that has been very flexible and great with me during my training," said Kendell. "It has been great to keep my engineering skills sharp and continue my professional resume while keeping all the training for me to pursue all of this. To think about how far I have come is really wild with the improvement and the consistent upward trajectory that I have had. It was definitely not on my radar, even at the end of my college career, but I have continued to surprise myself."

The goal might be the Olympics now, but Kendell was the definition of a student-athlete, and all he learned in the engineering program has helped him in his other career, one he looks forward to devoting all of his time to. 

"The education in the engineering program was great," Kendell said. "I was always into figuring out how things work and problem-solving, which led me right into engineering. The skills I learned at UDM, even if I am not using all the technical things, there are so many lessons that I was taught that have helped me in my professional career. Those skills to execute projects I am working on have helped me. The automotive focus in the program was great, and that has helped me with the company I work with since we do a lot of cost and teardown analysis."

Kendell will look to become just the seventh member of Detroit Mercy to don his country's color on the highest stage. Titan Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood led the United States men's basketball team to a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, as the 19-year old, scored in double figures in seven out of the nine games, leading USA to a 9-0 record and a 65-50 victory over Yugoslavia in the gold medal game. 

In fencing, Hall-Of-Famers Tyrone Simmons and Dan Cantillon competed for Team USA. Simmons was in the team foil competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich as he became the second African American to compete in fencing. Cantillon was also at the 1968 summer games in Mexico City in the epee portion. 

Softball's Kaleigh Rafter joined the Canadian National Team in 2007 and played for her native country during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. While not a Titan student-athlete, Jeanne Stunyo went to U-D and while enrolled, won a silver medal in diving for the United States at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, capturing a total of 125.89 in the finals, which was 4.49 points better than third place. The same for Pat Costello, a U-D graduate who was a two-time Olympian, in 1952 in Helsinki, Finland, and 1956 in Australia, earning a silver medal in rowing.

"I think right now my time is a little outside of where I want it to be at the moment," said Kendell. "I have to get my time down to around 2:10:00 or 2:12:00. Training has been great in the last six months, and just getting into this final training mode and seeing where it goes. Obviously, top three is the ultimate goal, but just getting into that top 20 is a good intermediate goal."

"I never thought this was even possible when I first started here at Detroit Mercy. The University allowed me to grow as an athlete in the sport to put myself in this position, while the academics were amazing and something that has helped with my career outside of running. It still has not sunk in that I could represent the country, my family, my school, and myself at the Olympics."