Hat’s off to Wolverines

Woodstown boys, Schalick girls win Salem County track titles; Goodson, Stewart set records

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE — The war hat is back.

For all 15 Salem County and all six state championships he won at Penns Grove, Tom Mason wore the same Marine Corps khaki camo desert hat. It’s a little worn and pinched on the seams, but it was clean and fits as well as the first day he got it from one of his former students who served in Iraq. .

It had been tucked in a bedroom drawer beneath a stack of Penns Grove shirts since he retired from coaching. He dug it out Thursday for his first Salem County Championship Meet as Woodstown’s coach and just like that old silk hat they found for Frosty the Snowman it still had the magic in it.

The Wolverines won their first Salem County boys track title since 2019 — and Mason’s first since 2017 — when they pulled away from a tight battle with Penns Grove in the late events at Pennsville High School.

“I knew where it was, I went to the drawer it’s in, pulled it out and said, ‘OK, I’m back,'” Mason said, noting the Tri-County coaches back in the day used to call him ‘The Little General.'”

The key to the victory was scoring points in events they hadn’t before, but in the end it was the traditional distance events that clinched it as they went 1-2-4 in the 800 and 1-2-3 in the 3200. Josh Crawford led the Wolverines across the line in the 800 and Jacob Marino won the 3200 for the fourth year in a row — on his 18th birthday.

Ironically, it was the same way they closed out the Red Devils Monday for Mason’s 400th career dual meet victory.

Schalick ran away with the girls meet.

Penns Grove’s Kylee Goodson and Schalick’s David Stewart set records and were named boys track and field MVPs, respectively. Goodson set the county 400 record (48.89) among his two individual and 4×400 relay wins. Stewart set the triple jump meet record (47-8.25) among his four individual wins.

Schalick’s Sebrina Bradford was the girls field MVP, winning the discus and finishing second with a PR in the javelin. Woodstown’s Abby Marino was the track MVP after sweeping the 800, 1600 and 3200.

A question has persisted whether Mason would return to coach the Wolverines in 2027 and he remained non-committal throughout the season. On Thursday he said he has “sort of made a decision,” but wasn’t ready to disclose it publicly. “Let’s just say I really love the freshmen and sophomores that are out; we’ll let it go at that,” he said.

If he does bring it back, trust the war hat will come with him.

This story will be updated.

44TH SALEM COUNTY TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Top 3 win medals, top 5 score points)

BOYS
Team scores: Woodstown 104, Penns Grove 89, Schalick 67.5, Salem 62.5, Pennsville 12.
400 Hurdles: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 54.91; 2. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 56.05; 3. Grady Buzby, Salem 58.06.
100: 1. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 11.04; 2. Will Roy, Penns Grove 11.35; 3. Danny Knight, Pennsville 11.46.
1600: 1. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 4:34.14; 2. David Farrell, Woodstown 4:35.13; 3. Gavin Cronrath, Salem 4:50.71.
400: 1. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 48.89 (county record, old record, Lance Husser, Woodstown 49.00-h, 2004); 2. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 49.79; 3. Karon Chew, Woodstown 50.29.
110 Hurdles: 1. Timothy Gregory, Salem 15.36; 2. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 15.59; 3. Sherrod Jones, Schalick 15.61.
800: 1. Josh Crawford, Woodstown 1:58.33; 2. Karson Chew, Woodstown 1:59.89; 3. Steve Chomo, Schalick 2:00.31.
3200: 1. Jacob Marino, Woodstown 10:28.36; 2. Pacey Hutton, Woodstown 10:42.26; 3. Jackson Perry, Woodstown 10:47.41.
200: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 22.26; 2. Kylee Goodson, Penns Grove 22.33; 3. Will Roy, Penns Grove 23.39.
4×400 Relay: 1. Penns Grove (Bryan Garlic, Tommy White, Savior Allah, Kylee Goodson) 3:28.35; 2. Salem 3:30.18; 3. Woodstown 3:30.36.
Long Jump: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 22-3; 2. Will Roy, Penns Grove 21-6.75; 3. Danny Knight, Pennsville 21-5.
Triple Jump: 1. David Stewart, Schalick 47-8.25 (meet record, old record, Steven Brown, Penns Grove, 47-5, 2009); 2. Bryan Garlic, Penns Grove 44-3; 3. Donovan Weathers, Salem 41-10.
High Jump: 1. Tommy White, Penns Grove 6-0; 2. Andrew White, Woodstown 6-0; 3. Donovan Weathers, Salem 6-0.
Discus: 1. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 154-8; 2. Ethan McLean, Schalick, 142-2; 3. Giovanni Traini, Salem 120-3.
Shot Put: 1. JaKai Ingram, Penns Grove 47-3.75; 2. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 47-0.5; 3. Connor Wariwanchik, Woodstown 44-2.5.
Javelin: 1. Gary Simonini, Schalick 161-5; 2. Noah Chiu, Woodstown 138-0; 3. Aidan Taulane, Woodstown 126-0.
Pole Vault: 1. Grady Buzby, Salem 11-0; 2. Jelani Beverly, Salem 9-6; 3. Messiah Allah, Penns Grove 9-6.

GIRLS
Team scores: Schalick 114.50, Salem 80, Woodstown 64, Pennsville 51.5, Penns Grove 25.
400 Hurdles: 1. Brooke Valentine, Schalick 1:10.22; 2. Lia Covely, Woodstown 1:10.28; 3. Ava Scurry, Schalick 1:17.79.
100: 1. Raniyah Parsons-Smith, Salem 12.88; 2. Dynastie Tucker, Salem 13:37; Amaia Massengill, Salem 13.65.
1600: 1. Abby Marino, Woodstown 5:27.23; 2. Emma Wilbur, Schalick 5:50.48; 3. Sawyer Slad, Pennsville 5:59.26.
400: 1. Dynastie Tucker, Salem 1:02.73; 2. Molly Gratz, Pennsville 1:03.34; 3. Brooklynn Jackson, Salem 1:03.54.
100 Hurdles: 1. Lia Covely, Woodstown 17.13; 2. Rebekah Cuff, Schalick 18.36; 3. JiYonna Seals, Salem 18.74.
800: 1. Abby Marino, Woodstown 2:32.16; 2. Kiley Parvin, Schalick 2:40.86; 3. Caylen Taylor, Schalick 2:43.72.
3200: 1. Abby Marino, Woodstown 12:50.44; 2. Emma Wilbur, Schalick 13:11.06; 3. Sawyer Slad, Pennsville 13:20.93.
200: 1. Raniyah Parsons-Smith, Salem 27.20; 2. Anyzha Williams, Salem 27.47; 3. Amaia Massengill, Salem 27.85.
4×400 Relay: 1. Salem (Amaia Massengill, Anyzha Williams, Dynastie Tucker, Brooklynn Jackson) 4:23.90; 2. Schalick 4:28.35; 3. Penns Grove 4:45.16.
Long Jump: 1. Arianna Dowe, Penns Grove 15-3; 2. Phoebe Alward, Schalick 15-2.5; 3. Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 14-10.
Triple Jump: 1. Jaelynn Jarmon, Schalick 35-9; 2. Ramiyah Jones, Salem 34-0; 3. Arianna Dowe, Penns Grove 32-8.5.
High Jump: 1. Kallie Morrison, Pennsville 4-10; 2. Rebekah Cuff, Schalick 4-8; 3. Aubrey Manorowitz, Pennsville 4-6.
Discus: 1. Sebrina Bradford, Schalick 109-1; 2. Tatiyonna Crawford, Pennsville 102-11; 3. Sara Lodge, Woodstown 97-8.
Shot Put: 1. Zoey Caesar, Penns Grove 33-8.75; 2. Rolande Delva, Pennsville 30-6; 3. Ava Rodgers, Salem 30-1.5.
Javelin: 1. Navaeh Robinson, Schalick 107-0; 2. Sebrina Bradford, Schalick 91-7; 3. River Wojcik, Schalick 83-6.
Pole Vault: 1. Juliette Angelus, Woodstown 7-0; 2. Molly Gratz, Pennsville 6-6; 3. Jillian Wriggins, Schalick 6-6