“At the state track meet in May 1955, the sensational senior rewrote the record book. Eddie 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.”

Bartee Haile’s San Marcos Mercury article captures only a small part of Southern’s greatness. Running for the legendary Clyde Littlefield at the University of Texas, Southern led the Longhorns to Southwest Conference titles from 1957-59. Individually, he earned three straight 440-yard SWC championships and the 1959 NCAA quarter-mile title. Additionally, he ran the anchor for the world-record 440 and 880-yard relays while at UT.

A graduate of Dallas Sunset, Eddie Southern was the youngest member of the 1956 Olympic team that competed in Melbourne, Australia. When asked by a reporter his motivation to run so fast, he replied: “I was just a scared Texan. I was afraid I wouldn’t make the team.”