{{short description|American athlete}} {{About|Philip Ransom Conley}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Phil Conley | image = Phil Conley 1964.jpg | caption = Conley training with wife in 1964 | nationality = American | sport = Athletics | event = Javelin throw | pb = 79.30 m (1964) | club = Caltech, Pasadena | birth_date = {{birth date|1934|8|17}} | birth_place = [[Madera, California]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|3|12|1934|8|17}} | death_place = [[Santa Rosa, California]], U.S. | height = 190 cm | weight = 88 kg | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }} {{MedalCompetition | [[Pan American Games]] }} {{MedalSilver | [[1959 Pan American Games|1959 Chicago]] | [[Athletics at the 1959 Pan American Games|Javelin]] }} }}
'''Philip Ransom Conley''' (August 17, 1934 – March 12, 2014) was an American [[Sport of athletics|athlete]]. He competed in the [[Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw|men's javelin throw]] at the [[1956 Summer Olympics]].<ref name="SportsRef">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/phil-conley-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418101544/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/phil-conley-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |title=Phil Conley Olympic Results |access-date=January 17, 2018}}</ref> His wife was [[Frances K. Conley]], the first official female winner of the [[Bay to Breakers]] and an acclaimed neurosurgeon.<ref name="SportsRef"/> He graduated from [[California Institute of Technology]] with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and earned an MBA from [[Harvard Business School]].<ref name="SportsRef"/>
==Early life== Phil was raised in [[Fresno, California|Fresno]], California, and graduated from [[Fresno High School]] in 1952.<ref name=":0">Independent Coast Observer, March 28, 2014</ref> 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|title=Caltech News|date=August 13, 2019|doi=10.1287/orms.2014.04.10}}</ref>
== Caltech == 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 [[American football|football]] team and was a member of the [[baseball]] team.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.caltechbasketballblog.com/2009/11/phil-conley-56.html|title=The Caltech Basketball Beavers Blog|date=November 1, 2009|access-date=March 31, 2020}}</ref> He won all-conference honors both in football and basketball.<ref name=":0" />
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://magazine.caltech.edu/post/caltech-olympians|title=Caltech Magazine|date=March 1, 2018|website=Caltech |access-date=March 31, 2020}}</ref>
==Javelin == 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 LaBrucherie|Bert La Brucherie]] suggested he try the [[Javelin throw|javelin]] instead. Largely self-taught, within weeks Conley had broken the Caltech freshman record with a 176' 9-1/2" throw.<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1956-06-17|title=NCAA Summary|journal=Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, California).}}</ref> Conlety was voted to the Masters Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2004.<ref>[http://www.mastershistory.org/NMN/01_2005.pdf National Masters News]</ref>
==Later life== 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.<ref name="SportsRef"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{sports links}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1956 Summer Olympics}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Phil}} [[Category:1934 births]] [[Category:2014 deaths]] [[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:American men javelin throwers]] [[Category:California Institute of Technology alumni]] [[Category:Harvard Business School alumni]] [[Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Madera, California]] [[Category:Track and field athletes from California]] [[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1959 Pan American Games]] [[Category:Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games]] [[Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)]] [[Category:American masters athletes]] [[Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]] [[Category:Caltech Beavers men's track and field athletes]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]