Silas Edward Southern (January 4, 1938 – May 17, 2023) was an American sprinter and hurdler who won a silver medal in the 400 metres hurdles at 1956 Olympics. He won another silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 1959 Pan American Games.

Early life

Southern was a 1955 graduate of Dallas' Sunset High School, where he won four individual State Championships and set two State and National High School Records, was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 meter hurdles, as well as sprints and relays. He was clocked at 20.7 seconds in the 220-yard dash, best ever by a high-school student in Texas or any other state. Then he turned right around and broke the state and national records in the 440-yard event with a time of 47.2 seconds.

College

Southern went on to compete in track & field at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, where he was 1959

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

440 yard champion and a member of World Record 440 and 880 yard relay teams. Running for

Clyde Littlefield Clyde Littlefield (October 6, 1892 – May 20, 1981) was an American sports and athletics coach. The head track and field coach at The University of Texas from 1920 to 1961 as well as its football coach from 1927 to 1933. In his 41 years at Texas ...

at the University of Texas, Southern led the Longhorns to

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

titles from 1957 to 1959. Individually, he earned three straight 440-yard SWC championships in 1957, 1958, 1959 and the 1959 NCAA quarter-mile title. Southern ran the anchor for the world-record 440 and 880-yard relays while at University of Texas.

International career

Southern competed at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in the 400 meter hurdles, where he won the silver medal. As an 18-year-old, Southern as a Texas youth set the

Olympic Record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

in the 400 metres hurdles (50.1 seconds) in the semifinals in 1956 at Melbourne on his way to taking the silver medal to fellow American Glenn Davis's gold. Southern won another silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 1959 Pan American Games.

Death

Southern died on May 17, 2023, at the age of 85.

Honors

In 1956, Southern was inducted into the Friar Society, the oldest honor society at The University of Texas, which recognizes students who made significant contributions to

The University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. The Friar Society's purpose is "to associate together leading members of the senior or graduate classes for mutual benefit and cooperation, and to promote the best interests of the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and the student body." Southern was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2013), Sunset High School Hall of Fame, and

Drake Relays The Drake Relays (officially the Drake Relays presented by Xtream powered by Mediacom) is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', it ...

Athletes Hall of Fame.
/ref> Southern was selected in the 29th round of the

1959 NFL Draft The 1959 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 1, 1958, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 21, 1959. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. With the first overall pick in the dra ...

by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, but did not play in the league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern, Eddie 1938 births 2023 deaths American male hurdlers Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Texas Longhorns men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from Dallas Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games