Canonsburg, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) hosted the WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Rifle Individual Championships on Thursday at Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club in Canonsburg. In an 82-competitor field, Penn-Trafford senior Carlee Valenta ultimately emerged as the victor, registering a score of 200-19x with nine center targets.
 
Valenta’s win is the first WPIAL championship for Penn-Trafford in the sport of rifle – both in individual and team competition. The league has been holding individual championships since 1998, and Valenta’s victory makes the Warriors the 12th different school to claim a gold medalist.
 
Both Valenta and runner-up Brooke Fanala of Hempfield Area finished with scores of 200-19x, but Valenta claimed the title with nine center targets to Fanala’s four. Two-time WPIAL champion Riley Dunn of McGuffey captured the bronze with a tally of 200-18x and eight center targets, with Penn-Trafford’s Emily Valenta (200-18x, 4 CT) and Waynesburg Central’s Logan Crouse (200-18x, 2 CT) rounding out the top five.
 
The top-16 finishers have qualified for state competition, with the aforementioned five joined by Trinity’s Bria Bruce (200-18x, 2 CT), West Greene’s JLin Scott (200-17x, 4 CT), Woodland Hills’s Anthony Nemanic (200-17x, 2 CT), Butler’s Grace Seybert (200-16x, 5 CT), Butler’s Madison Krainbucher (200-16x, 4 CT), Trinity’s Ryan Walther (200-16x, 3 CT), Mt. Lebanon’s Danielle Gilmore (200-15x, 5 CT), Armstrong’s Riley Wasson (200-15x, 5 CT), Trinity’s Bo Schury (200-15x, 4 CT), Waynesburg Central’s Faithlyn Vukmanic (200-15x, 4 CT), and Woodland Hills’s Ella Devore (200-14x, 4 CT).
 
Prior to announcing the results, four student-athletes – Armstrong’s Kallen Alwine and Lincoln Claypoole, Butler’s Alyssa Miller, and Hempfield Area’s Brooke Fanala – were bestowed with the Dave Cramer Award for completing a perfect season in section matches.

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