Phil Conley

American athlete

This article is about Philip Ransom Conley. For other uses, see Phil Conley (disambiguation).

Phil Conley

Conley training with wife in 1964

Personal information
Nationality| American
Born| (1934-08-17)August 17, 1934
Madera, California, U.S.
Died| March 12, 2014(2014-03-12) (aged 79)
Santa Rosa, California, U.S.
Height| 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight| 88 kg (194 lb)
Sport
Sport| Athletics
Event(s)| Javelin throw
Club| Caltech, Pasadena
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)| 79.30 m (1964)

Medal record

Representing  United States
Pan American Games
|  1959 Chicago | Javelin

Philip Ransom Conley (August 17, 1934 - March 12, 2014) was an American athlete. He competed in the men's javelin throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics.[1] His wife was Frances K. Conley, the first official female winner of the Bay to Breakers and an acclaimed neurosurgeon.[1] He graduated from California Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Early life
* 2 Caltech
* 3 Javelin
* 4 Later life
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## Early life[edit]

Phil was raised in Fresno, California, and graduated from Fresno High School in 1952.[2] In high school Conley, an all-round athlete, lettered in basketball, tennis, football and track, and was runner-up in the San Joaquin Valley in tennis singles. [3]

## Caltech[edit]

Conley (class of 1956) ranks in the top 10 for basketball career scoring average (16.1 ppg) and scoring average for a season (19.6 and 18.4 ppg). He played quarterback and defensive end for the football team and was a member of the baseball team.[4] He won all-conference honors both in football and basketball.[2]

Only three Caltech undergraduates have qualified for the Olympic Games: Glenn Graham (Paris, 1924); Folke Skoog (Los Angeles, 1932), and Conley. Meredith Gourdine (Helsinki, 1952) attended Caltech as a graduate student and earned his doctorate in 1960.[5]

## Javelin[edit]

In February of his Freshman year, Conley asked the Caltech track coach if he could try out for high jump. Because it was raining, coach Bert La Brucherie suggested he try the javelin instead. Largely self-taught, within weeks Conley had broken the Caltech freshman record with a 176' 9-1/2" throw.[3] From there, Conley's progress was remarkable, setting school records of 199' 2-1/2" as a sophomore, 231' 7" as a junior, and 244' 1" his senior year, 1956. That year, Conley's 239' 11" throw in an NCAA meet made him collegiate javelin champion of the United States.[6] Conlety was voted to the Masters Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004.[7]

## Later life[edit]

Conley remained active in athletics through most of his adult life. After finishing his career he served as a volunteer assistant coach at Stanford University, and also competed in masters events. In 2014, shortly after his death, he was inducted into the Caltech Sports Hall of Fame. Besides athletics, Conley worked as a financial consultant specializing in venture capital. His wife, Frances Krauskopf-Conley was a prominent neurosurgeon, and the first woman to chair a major academic neurosurgery department in the United States.[1]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Phil Conley Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
2. ^ a b Independent Coast Observer, March 28, 2014
3. ^ a b "Caltech News". August 13, 2019. doi:10.1287/orms.2014.04.10. `{{cite journal}}`: Cite journal requires `|journal=` (help)
4. ^ "The Caltech Basketball Beavers Blog". November 1, 2009. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
5. ^ "Caltech Magazine". Caltech. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
6. ^ "NCAA Summary". Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, California). June 17, 1956.
7. ^ National Masters News. [1]

## External links[edit]

* Phil Conley at Olympedia

* v
* t
* e

1956 USA Olympic track and field team

Men's track
and road athletes|

* Horace Ashenfelter
* Thane Baker
* Don Bowden
* Lee Calhoun
* Phil Coleman
* Nick Costes
* Tom Courtney
* Josh Culbreath
* Glenn Davis
* Jack Davis
* Bill Dellinger
* Elliott Denman
* Dick Hart
* James Hewson
* Charles Jenkins
* Deacon Jones
* Lou Jones
* Johnny Kelley
* Leamon King (r)
* Henry Laskau
* Jim Lea
* Bruce MacDonald
* Jesse Mashburn (r)
* Gordon McKenzie
* Bobby Morrow
* Ira Murchison
* Joel Shankle
* Leo Sjogren
* Eddie Southern
* Arnie Sowell
* Lonnie Spurrier
* Andy Stanfield
* Curt Stone
* Dean Thackwray
* Max Truex
* Jerome Walters
* Adolf Weinacker
* Ted Wheeler

Men's field athletes|

* Ken Bantum
* Greg Bell
* John Bennett
* Milt Campbell
* Phil Conley
* Hal Connolly
* Ira Davis
* Charles Dumas
* Benjamin Garcia
* Fortune Gordien
* Bob Gutowski
* Al Hall
* Rafer Johnson
* Des Koch
* George Mattos
* Bill Nieder
* Parry O'Brien
* Al Oerter
* Phil Reavis
* Bob Richards
* Bill Sharpe
* George Shaw
* Vern Wilson
* Cy Young

Women's track athletes|

* Isabelle Daniels
* Constance Darnowski
* Meredith Ellis
* Mae Faggs
* Margaret Matthews (r)
* Barbara Mueller
* Irene Robertson
* Wilma Rudolph
* Lucinda Williams

Women's field athletes|

* Karen Anderson
* Earlene Brown
* Paula Deubel
* Ann Marie Flynn
* Pam Kurrell
* Marjorie Larney
* Margaret Matthews
* Mildred McDaniel
* Lois Testa
* Amelia Wershoven
* Willye White

Coaches|

* Jim Kelly (men's head coach)
* Frank Anderson (men's assistant coach)
* Bob Giegengack (men's assistant coach)
* Jess Mortensen (men's assistant coach)
* Nell Jackson (women's head coach)
* Boo Morcom (women's field event coach)

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