Eddie Southern, who won a silver medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games as a freshman at the University of Texas, died May 17. He was 85. A precocious talent at Sunset High School in Dallas, Texas, Southern set a pair of national records in the 440y at the 1955 Texas Interscholastic League Class 2A state meet, clocking 47.4 in the prelims and then 47.2 in the final. He also won the 220y in 20.7 to tie the national prep record that was set in 1933 by Jesse Owens and added a gold in the 120y hurdles. The next year at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Los Angeles, Southern chased Glenn Davis all the way to the finish in the 400H as the pair became the first to crack the 50-second barrier. Davis set a world record of 49.5, with Southern just behind in 49.7, setting up another showdown in Melbourne. At the Games, Southern set an Olympic record in the semifinal with a 50.1 (50.26 auto time), but Davis again came away victorious in the final with a 50.1, with Southern earning silver in 50.8 and Josh Culbreath completing the U.S. medal sweep with bronze in 51.6. With his collegiate career still ahead of him after the Olympics, Southern had a sterling career at Texas, winning the AAU 440y crowns in 1958 and 1959 and the NCAA 440y title in 1959. He picked up Pan American Games silver on the U.S. 4x400m relay in 1959. Returning to the hurdles after three years running the flat one-lapper, Southern narrowly missed out on another Olympic berth, placing fourth at the Trials in 49.9. Southern was part of four world relay records, including two with Texas in the 4x110y in 1957 and 1959. He ran on the Texas squad that set a WR in the 4x220y at the 1957 Texas Relays, and helped a U.S. team to a 3:05.6 WR in the 4x440y at an Olympic Test meet at Mt. San Antonio College in 1960. After retiring from the sport, Southern served in the U.S. Air Force and then had a career in the restaurant industry. He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1969.
Norm Green, a member of the inaugural class of the USATF Masters Hall of Fame, died May 16 in Media, Pennsylvania, at age 90. Green was a legend in masters long distance running circles and served as the director of the USATF Masters Hall of Fame for more than a decade. An ordained Baptist minister who earned a bachelor's degree from Cal-Berkeley, Green was president of the American Running and Fitness Association from 1991-94 and was inducted into the Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame in 1992. He won the USTAF President's Award in 2003 and the Horace Crow Junior Award in 2005, as well as twice winning the Otto T. Essig Award. As a runner, Green earned recognition as Male Athlete of the Year in four age divisions and his name remained in the record books for many years across an array of distances. At age 55 he ran a 2:27:42 at the Twin Cities Marathon, making him the oldest American ever to break 2:30. Green was an administrator for USATF's Mid-Atlantic Association for more than 25 years, serving in a variety of roles, and was a delegate to the TAC/USATF Annual Meeting from 1984 to 2011.