CARNEYS POINT, N.J. – The Salem County Sports Hall of Fame will hold its annual induction ceremony on Monday, August 26. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Sol and Jean Davidow Performing Arts Theatre located in Davidow Hall on the campus of Salem Community College at 460 Hollywood Ave. in Carneys Point.
This year’s inductees will include: Paula Shea Crispin, Lee Curry, Jeff Justice, Myles N. Martin, Stephen Pierangeli, Fred Pratta, Jeremy Simkins, and there will be more honorees – including a Community Service Award, a Special Team Award, and standout high school athletes.
Paula Shea Crispin
Paula Shea Crispin coached varsity field hockey, tennis and softball at Woodstown High. Her 1978 field hockey team was crowned South Jersey champions and reached the state final. During her career, Paula coached her field hockey and softball teams to 100 wins. Her teams were Tri-County Conference champions in all three sports. She is proud to have coached hundreds of talented girls at Woodstown.
Paula also volunteered as Woodstown Middle School hockey and basketball coach. For several summers, she coached the Elmer swim team and taught tennis at Woodstown Community School. She also served as an assistant coach and referee for field hockey for Alloway Township. Paula now works as a school nurse throughout Salem County and continues to volunteer.
Lee Curry
Lee Curry started riding horses with his mother in 1945 at age 15 and began riding bulls as an amateur in Toronto, Canada; Texas; and California (1947-1949). Lee started professional bull riding with Rodeo Stock contractors (1949-1951), and then competed at Madison Square Garden (1951-1956). He also rode at Cowtown Rodeo starting in 1956 and retired from bull riding around 1968.
Lee was honored in the book written by Angela Speakman, Images of America Cowtown Rodeo (2014). He was also honored in front of a packed house at a professional bull-riding event in Madison Square Garden in 2015. Lee has owned Curry Construction Co. for nearly 70 years.
Jeff Justice
Jeff Justice graduated from Penns Grove High School as the all-time hit leader (121) and a career .500 batting average. He was a two-time, All-Tri-State team (Carpenter Cup) and earned American Legion MVP for New Jersey.
He continued his baseball career at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. He was 2004 Third Team All-American (ABCA), 2004 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year and 2004 1st Team All-Regional (ABCA) and two-time All-Regional Tournament Team.
Jeff finished his career at Lemoyne with a .355 batting average, 20 home runs and 132 runs batted in, becoming the all-time hits leader (234) and total-base leader (365). In his senior year, he finished 21st in Division 1 with a .401 batting average.
Professionally, Jeff had a career average of .302 in the minor leagues in the Boston Red Sox organization. He now serves as controller with New Readers Press, ProLiteracy’s publishing division.
Myles N. Martin
Myles N. Martin has earned national recognition as a scholastic and collegiate wrestler. At the McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Md., the Penns Grove native was three-time Maryland State champion, four-time finalist, three-time National Prep Champion, four-time finalist and two-time Most Outstanding Wrestler National Preps. He was two-time Beast of the East Champion and earned Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. The McDonogh School all-time wins leader (174), Myles was two-time Baltimore Sun Wrestler of the Year (2014 and 2015). At 182 pounds, Miles was ranked first in the country by multiple outlets.
At Ohio State University, the 184-pounder was NCAA Champion (2016) and named All-American (2016-2019), becoming only the seventh four-time All-American in school history. He was Big Ten Champion (2019), NCAA finalist (2016 and 2018), Big Ten finalist (2017-2019). Miles was named the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Champion (2017 and 2019), the UWW University Nationals Champion (86kg) and AWN All-Rookie (2016). He was three-time team captain (2017-2019) and earned the 2019 Ohio State Most Outstanding Wrestler Award, finishing his career with 121 wins.
After graduating in May, Miles signed with the Ohio Regional Training Center and continues to train for the Olympics and World Team in hopes of representing the USA.
Stephen Pierangeli
Stephen Pierangeli coached at Arthur P. Schalick High School for nearly four decades. During his 37 years as head coach of the boys head cross country team, his teams enjoyed 31 winning seasons, 223 dual meet victories, 11 Salem County titles and 10 Tri-County Division titles. Those teams featured nine individual Salem County champions and 16 State team qualifiers.
His 25 years as head coach of the boys track team were highlighted by 20 winning seasons, 118 dual meet victories, nine Salem County titles, nine individual Salem County champions, nine Tri-County Division titles, 97 individual County champions, 17 relay team titles, two South Jersey team sectional titles, 28 individual South Jersey champions and seven individual State champions.
As co-head coach of indoor track for five years, the Cougars won one South Jersey team sectional title, and crowned nine individual South Jersey champions, four individual State champions and one National champion.
Fred Pratta
Coach Fred Pratta guided St. James High School to the Parochial B baseball tournament from 1981 to 1991. In 1988, the Spartans won the state title for the first time since the inception of the NJSIAA tournament. His program also won six Classic Division titles and two South Jersey titles.
Fred was selected to the South Jersey Coaches Hall of Fame in 1995. He was named Coach of the Year by the South Jersey Baseball Coaches in 1988 and 2000, Philadelphia Inquirer Coach of the Year in 1988 and All-South Jersey Coach in baseball in 2000 by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Later, he was assistant principal and principal of the Alloway Township School, and served as superintendent of the Lower Alloways Creek School from 2002 through 2013.
Jeremy Simkins
Jeremy Simkins was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and track) at A.P. Schalick High School, graduating in 2007. He went on to compete in football and track and field at the University of Delaware.
Jeremy currently holds eight Schalick football records. His senior year, he was selected as the receiver of the year by the South Jersey Touchdown Club and named to the All-South Jersey All-Group team. Jeremy was a three-year starter for the Cougars basketball team, earning first team All-Tri County his senior year. In track, Jeremy was a four-year letter winner. He was three-time Tri-County champion in the 110 high hurdles and two-time Tri-County champ in the 400 hurdles. In his senior year, Jeremy qualified for four events at the state meet. He won the Group II Sectional and State Championships in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles and finished fourth in the 110 high hurdles. During that season, he set individual records in the 400 meter (49.7), the 800 meter (1:58.45) and 400 meter intermediate hurdles (53.87) and helped set the 4 x 800 meter relay record.
Playing for the UD Fightin’ Blue Hens football team in 2007, Jeremy was part of the historic run to the national championship game where the Hens fell to Appalachian State. After the season, he chose to focus all of his efforts on track and field for the Blue Hens indoor and outdoor teams. He was named UD Athlete of the Year for the 2008-09 school year. He currently still holds three UD records (600 meter, 4×400 meter and 400 intermediate hurdles). He graduated from UD in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
Other honors:
Dale G. Donelson
Dale will be honored at the event with a posthumous award for decades of community service to Salem County sports, which were always a big part of his life. As a child and teenager, Dale played football and baseball, and wrestled, excelling in all three. As an adult, he played men’s softball and coached. He also organized a men’s softball league, a Babe Ruth baseball league for youth and the Lower Alloways Creek youth league, which included various sports for girls and boys during the school year. Throughout the years, Dale also coached youth in baseball, softball, and wrestling. He also organized an umpire’s association for men’s softball and youth baseball. His three children – Dale, Ryan and Renee’ – will proudly accept this award in memory of their father.
1984 State Girls Group 1 Basketball Champions – Schalick High School, coached by Karen Bowman. As a tradition, the Sports Hall of Fame ceremony will honor a championship team marking a milestone anniversary: The Cougars completed a 24-2 season by defeating Wallkill Valley Regional High School in the Group 1 championship game at Rutgers. The Schalick team also received the Sportsmanship Award for the tournament.
Additionally, the following high school athletes and team will be honored as standout high school athletes for winning state championships in the 2018-19 school year:
Amanda Chomo – Schalick High School
- Spring Track New Jersey Group 1 State Champion in 4×800 meter relay
Chloe Gerstenbacher – Schalick High School
- Spring Track New Jersey Group 1 State Champion in 4×800 meter relay
Marleigh Puglia – Schalick High School
Spring Track New Jersey Group 1 State Champion in 4×800 meter relay
Julia Smith – Schalick High School
- Spring Track New Jersey Group 1 State Champion in 4×800 meter relay
Arianna Smith – Pennsville Memorial High School
- 100 high hurdle Group 1 State Champion
- 400 intermediate hurdle Group 1 State Champion
- Meet of Champions winner in the 400 hurdles
Penns Grove High School Football Team, coached by John Emel
- 2018 NJSIAA South/Central Group 1 Bowl Champions
For more information about the Salem County Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, please call: (856) 351-2644.
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