Philip Reavis is a Somerville High School Class of 1954 Fred Foye a local Boston sports reporter said in 1954, “A new star is born today in school sports. Somerville High’s Phil Reavis, established himself as the highest-sailing high jumper in schoolboy history”. It took a few years for Phil to reach that height however. It all began in 1950 when Phil was given the task of looking after his little brother in the playground. The only thing Phil could do in the summer going into his freshman year in high school while babysitting his little brother was the high jump. There just happened to be a high jump area at the local playground. That practice would pay off, when four years later he would become the best high school high jumper in the country. This accomplishment would earn him a scholarship to Villanova University. Before we go any further we have to mention that what adds a special aura to Phil’s accomplishments, is that most people picture a high jumper as being very tall, Phil however stands at 5’9.5” and this makes his performances even more remarkable. His breakout performance came in his junior year in the first meet of the indoor season when he cleared 6’1.5” besting the Metropolitan League Meet record of 5’11.5”. According to his high school coach Dick Hegarty, Phil’s “going to grow and I think he’ll keep improving. He has terrific spring and bounces like a rubber ball. He gives a great twist when he gets up in the air and has wonderful form.” Coach Hegarty was 1 for 1 on that prediction. Phil didn’t grow that much more, but he certainly jumped higher---much higher. Going to the indoor national high school track and field championship meet for the first time his junior year, Phil would gain valuable experience. His 4th place finish at 5’11” was disappointing, but it was that performance that motivated Phil to work even harder to perfect that wonderful form of his. By the end of his junior year, Phil would become the Class A and New England high jump champion. His New England Championship jump of 6’1 1/8” would be a New England outdoor record. Phil won every meet his junior year accept the National Championship. Phil’s senior year started off with a huge jump at the Metropolitan League Meet. His winning jump of 6’3.25” not only eclipsed his own New England record, but he surpassed both the state meet Class A record and the All State Class mark. At the Class A meet Phil jumped 6’3 7/8th setting an unofficial National High School record. To get the official record, Phil would have to clear that height in a nationally recognized meet. Not a problem for Phil as he cleared the same exact height two weeks later at the National AAU meet at New York’s Madison Square Garden. A few weeks later at the New England Championship meet, Phil shattered his own national high school record when he jumped 6’5 1/8th” If you are thinking wow, what a High School career, wait till you hear about college. After receiving a scholarship to Villanova, Phil’s work ethic and athletic abilities took him to even newer heights. In his first year of varsity eligibility, Phil would win the NCAA high jump title at Edwards Stadium on the University of California Berkley campus with a jump of 6’6.25”. Phil must of loved California because a month later in Los Angeles, he would Qualify for the 1956 Olympic Games by finishing 3rd in the high jump competition clearing 6’9.5” Phil went to Melbourne Australia and proudly represented the United States by finishing 7th with a jump of 6’5.5”. In 1956 and 57 Track and Field News ranked him 9th and 8th respectively in the world and 5th and 3rd in the United States. In 1957 he won the USA Track and Field Indoor Championship with a jump of 6’9.5” he finished 3rd in the NCAA outdoor meet helping Villanova to win its first NCAA Division I Championship. This may sound familiar because we said the same thing about Ed Collymore. You could almost say that boys from Massachusetts won the NCAA Championship. In 1958 Phil qualified for his 3rd NCAA Championship meet and came away with a 4th place finish. Later that year he would clear a personal best height of 6’10” to put him 5th on the U.S. list and 12th on the world list. Jerry Nason the former Boston Globe executive sports editor and world-renowned track authority has said this about Phil Reavis, and I quote, “Phil is the greatest jumper (personal height vs. height of bar) American has ever produced…. And that sports pages recall him as one of the very greatest jumpers who ever laced on a shoe.” As I said earlier, Phil has come the farthest out of anyone in this room. This past week Phil flew in from Macau China where he and his wife Charlotte have been teaching English at St. Josephs Catholic school for over 20 years. He is presently, as he describes it “semi-retirement” playing Jazz music at various clubs in Macau. He has also published a book of poetry reflecting all these years.
Class: 1954 Inducted: 2008