Penn-Trafford’s Valenta sisters on target at WPIAL rifle championships

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, February 18, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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When Penn-Trafford senior Carlee Valenta won the school’s first WPIAL rifle title, she did it while facing difficult obstacles.

But thanks to coach Diana Cholock and assistant Dale Emerick she posted her best career score of 200-19x with nine center shots. Her previous best was 200-14x with three centers.

“It was really exciting considering the circumstances,” Valenta said. “My gun fell over before the shoot and my riser got bent. Coach Cholock helped sight the target and coach Emerick worked on fixing my gun. It turned out to be my best score.”

Cholock said when Valenta started shooting she quickly recognized there was something wrong.

“Once we got her on the target, she was amazing,” Cholock said. “She was nailing everything.”

Valenta helped Penn-Trafford win the 2023 PIAA team title.

“I was a little nervous,” Valenta said. “It was the first time I had to shoot without my risers. I didn’t know what to expect.”

Valenta, 17, signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Texas El Paso in December where she will compete in college. She continued to improve her skills at different clubs. That’s where she developed her skills for the college level.

Valenta also competes for the Jerome Junior Rifle Team and Team Winning Solutions where must be able to compete in three college positions — prone, standing and kneeling. In high school, a competitor only competes in the prone position.

She recently won the Dave Cramer Award for perfection.

Her sister, junior Emily Valenta, placed fourth in the WPIAL.

Both participated in the state tournament Feb. 13 and while Carlee was a little off with her shooting, Emily was spot on.

“Emily was amazing,” Carlee Valenta said. “I had a rough beginning, but she was on. I’m so proud of her.”

Cholock said she hoped to hear the state results on Feb. 15. Emily Valenta was leading and Carlee was in fourth place before all results were reported.

Penn-Trafford skaters slipping

The Penn-Trafford hockey team was in seventh place in the PIHL Class 2A standings with two games left.

The Warriors (7-7-2, 18 points) were scheduled to host Armstrong (5-11-0, 10) on Feb. 19 and end the season Feb. 26 against North Hills (0-17-0, 0) at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center.

Penn-Trafford owns wins already against Armstrong (8-2) on Nov. 9 and North Hills (6-1) on Feb. 6.

The Warriors recently dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Franklin Regional on Feb. 12. Bryce Kropczynski tied the score in the third period. Assists went to Kyler Doran and Aiden Drotos.

Goaltender Tyler Funk stopped 27 of 29 shots.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford