At McCaskey HS, Rudy Valentino won 8 varsity letters while competing in gymnastics, swim team diving and cheerleading. He won both the PIAA state diving and tumbling championships in 1947.
Following high school and a freshman year at Millersville University, Valentino enrolled at Penn State University where he won nine varsity letters, again in gymnastics, swim team diving and cheerleading. He was captain of the Nittany Lions’ gymnastics team for two years and Eastern Intercollegiate tumbling champion in 1950. He was head Penn State cheerleader during the ’50 & ‘51 seasons and organized the effort to bring women back into the cheerleading teams, following all male years.
After college, Rudy enlisted in the US Air Force, where after being a flight officer during combat in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, he competed as a member of the United States bob-sled team (’60-’64) in the World Championships in Switzerland. Earlier with the Air Force bob-sled team, he competed in the 1960 Olympic Trials at Lake Placid.