Virgil Severns

American high jumper

Virgil Severns (born March 22, 1929) is a former male high jumper from the United States, who competed in the 1940s and 1950s. He is best known for winning the gold medal at the inaugural Pan American Games in 1951. Severns set his personal best in the men's high jump event (2.038 metres) on 1950-04-01 at a meet in Austin, Texas.

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Height
1950	US National Championships	College Park, Maryland	1st	1.97 m
1951	Pan American Games	Buenos Aires, Argentina	1st	1.95 m

References

Profile

Pan American Champions in men's high jump

1951: Virgil Severns (USA)
1955: Ernie Shelton (USA)
1959: Charles Dumas (USA)
1963: Gene Johnson (USA)
1967: Ed Caruthers (USA)
1971: Pat Matzdorf (USA)
1975: Tom Woods (USA)
1979: Franklin Jacobs (USA)
1983: Francisco Centelles (CUB)
1987: Javier Sotomayor (CUB)
1991: Javier Sotomayor (CUB)
1995: Javier Sotomayor (CUB)
1999: Kwaku Boateng / Mark Boswell (CAN)
2003: Germaine Mason (JAM)
2007: Víctor Moya (CUB)
2011: Donald Thomas (BAH)
2015: Derek Drouin (CAN)
2019: Luis Zayas (CUB)
2023: Luis Zayas (CUB)

v t e US National Championship winners in men's high jump
1876–1878 New York Athletic Club	1876-8: Edwards Ficken
1879–1888 NAAAA	1879: William Wunder 1880: Alfred Carroll 1881: C.W. Durand 1882: Alfred Carroll 1883: Malcolm Ford 1884: J.T. Rinehart 1885–87: William Page 1888^{Note 1}: Tim O'Connor
1888–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1888^{Note 1}: Daniel Webster 1889: R.K. Pritchard 1890–91: Alvah Nickerson 1892–95: Mike Sweeney 1896: Charles Powell 1897–1900: Irving Baxter 1901: Sam Jones 1902: Irving Baxter 1903-4: Sam Jones 1905: Herbert Kerrigan 1906: Neil Patterson 1907: Con Leahy 1908: Harry Porter 1909: Egon Erickson 1910: Walter Thomason 1911: Harry Grumpelt/Harry Porter 1912: John Johnstone 1913: Alma Richards 1914: Jo Loomis 1915: George Horine 1916: Wes Oler 1917: Clint Larsen 1918: Carl Rice 1919–20^OT: John Murphy 1921–22: Dewey Alberts 1923: LeRoy Brown 1924: Robert Juday 1925–26: Harold Osborn 1927: Robert King 1928^OT: Robert King/Charles McGinnis 1929: Henry Lassalette 1930–31: Anton Burg 1932^OT: Cornelius Johnson/George Spitz/Robert van Osdel 1933: Cornelius Johnson 1934: Cornelius Johnson/Walter Marty 1935: Cornelius Johnson 1936: Cornelius Johnson/Dave Albritton 1937: Dave Albritton 1938: Mel Walker/Dave Albritton 1939–40: Les Steers 1941: Bill Stewart 1942: Adam Berry 1943: Pete Watkins 1944: Fred Sheffield/Willard Smith 1945: Dave Albritton/Lester Howe/Richard Schnacke/Joshua Williamson 1946–47: Dave Albritton 1948: Tom Schofield 1949: Dick Phillips 1950: Dave Albritton/Jack Heitzman/Jack Razzeto/Virgil Severns 1951: Lewis Hall 1952–53: Walt Davis 1954: Ernie Shelton 1955: Charles Dumas/Ernie Shelton 1956–59: Charles Dumas 1960: John Thomas 1961: Bob Avant 1962: John Thomas 1963: Gene Johnson 1964: Ed Caruthers 1965–67: Otis Burrell 1968: Ed Hanks 1969: Otis Burrell 1970–71: Reynaldo Brown 1972: Barry Schur 1973–74: Dwight Stones 1975: Tom Woods 1976–78: Dwight Stones 1979: Franklin Jacobs
1980–1992 The Athletics Congress	1980: Franklin Jacobs 1981: Tyke Peacock 1982: Milt Ottey 1983: Dwight Stones 1984: Jim Howard 1985: Brian Stanton 1986: Doug Nordquist 1987: Jerome Carter 1988: Doug Nordquist 1989: Brian Brown 1990–92^OT: Hollis Conway
1993-onwards USA Track & Field	1993–94: Hollis Conway 1995–2000^2OT: Charles Austin 2001–02: Nathan Leeper 2003–04^OT: Jamie Nieto 2005: Matt Hemingway 2006: Tora Harris 2007: Jim Dilling 2008^OT: Jesse Williams 2009: Tora Harris 2010–11: Jesse Williams 2012^OT: Jamie Nieto 2013–16: Erik Kynard 2017:Bryan McBride 2018–19: Jeron Robinson 2021^{2020 OT}: JuVaughn Harrison
Notes	Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932 and since 1992, championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event. 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.