Penn-Trafford notebook: Emily Valenta places 3rd in state rifle competition

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, March 3, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Penn-Trafford junior Emily Valenta ended up placing third in the state in the high school individual rifle competition.

She finished with a 411.1 total to finish behind Everett’s Trey Myers (413.8) and Kinzey Williams (413.1).

Emily’s sister Carlee, a senior, placed 16^th with a 406.2 score. Emily Valenta was the WPIAL champion.

Warriors hockey ends on slide

Penn-Trafford’s ice hockey team ended the regular season by losing seven of eight games.

Despite the slide, which included a 4-1 loss to North Hills, the Warriors will open the PIHL Class 2A playoffs against either Thomas Jefferson or South Fayette.

Aiden Drotos gave Penn-Trafford a 1-0 lead in the first period, but North Hills earned its only win of the season behind two goals from Jonathan Trosky.

Heading into the playoffs, Bryce Kropczynski leads the Warriors’ scoring with 18 goals and 17 assists. Cam Kiste had four goals and 10 assists, while Marco Ferraccio had nine goals. Drotos now has six goals in six games.

Pochiba places fifth

Things didn’t start well for Seth Pochiba at the WPIAL junior high school wrestling tournament Feb. 17.

But he bounced back, won five of his next six matches and placed fifth at 147 pounds.

He defeated Luke Kail of Peters Township, 5-0.

He also defeated Avonworth’s Will Huffmyer, 7-1; Moon’s Batyr Tahyrov by forfeit; Butler’s Dylan Thurber, 2-0; and Norwin’s Logan Hunter, 5-0.

College scene

Updates on Norwin athletes playing in college:

Softball

Seton Hill: Camryn Murphy doubled, homered and drove in three, and junior Grace Paredes and senior Lauren Dellett also homered in the first game of a doubleheader sweep of D’Youville.

Dellett pitched a one-hitter in an 11-1, five-inning victory.

Junior Brooke Cleland (Penn-Trafford) homered, grad student Morgan Toal had an RBI double and senior Mackenzie Zang and Paredes homered in a 9-1 win in six innings in game two for the Griffins (7-2).

Women’s basketball

Edinboro: Sophomore guard Maura Suman (Penn-Trafford) played 39 minutes in her return to the area, finishing with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals in a 71-68 win at Seton Hill.

The Fighting Scots moved to 15-10 overall and 13-7 in the PSAC West.

Hockey

You can keep your cups. Saint Vincent hockey is playing for belts.

For the first time in program history, Saint Vincent won the College Hockey East Division 3 championship belt.

It was the program’s first title since the 1976-77 team won the WPIHA championship.

The Polar Bearcats skated past IUP for a 3-2 victory in the title game as Logan Connelly (Norwin), Nate Loughner (Penn-Trafford) and Zach Ridilla (Latrobe) all lit the lamp.

SVC never trailed, taking a 3-1 lead before holding back the Crimson Hawks.

SVC moves on to the national championship set for March 7-12 in St. Louis.

Track and field

Grove City: Senior Gabe Dunlap (Penn-Trafford) took fifth in the high jump (5 feet, 10.75 inches), sixth in the long jump (20-7.75) and seventh in both the pole vault (11-5.75) and 60-meter dash (7.16 seconds) to help the Wolverines win their first PAC Championship.

Staff writer Bill Beckner Jr. contributed.

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