A look back at Lower Moreland’s district title defense

PHILADELPHIA >> In like a lion, out like a lion.

Lower Moreland went roaring into the District One Class AA Championships at La Salle University and never let up.
“This feels pretty good. We’re going back to back,” said senior Connor Pietro, moments after he and his teammates emerged from their celebratory plunge into Kirk Pool. “We had a good group of freshmen this year and we hope to do it again next year.”
The Lions racked up 381 points to outscore rival Upper Moreland (286), a strong team in its own right, by almost a hundred. It was that kind of overwhelming performance that Lower Moreland put forth over the two-day event.
“We have a lot of depth on our team,” said coach Jess Brown, who took over a team with a losing record five years ago and has shaped them into two-time district champions. “We have great coaches — my assistants are awesome, and we just have great kids — strong kids in each grade.”
Lower Moreland made time drops across several events and started it all off with a gold medal in the 200 medley relay on Friday. A team of sophomore Connor Killion, sophomore Chris Kelly, freshman Tommy Lutter and senior Tom Seefried dropped nearly five seconds off their seed time to go 1:39.66, within shouting distance of the district record, set in 1997.
Killion won gold in the 200 free and then the Lions sent three finishers to the medal stand in the 200 IM, with Pietro earning fifth, sophomore Dan Shevelev grabbing the bronze and Kelly racing to the silver.
Lower Moreland was able to overcome a strong effort by Upper Moreland, which won gold in the final event of the competition, the 400 free relay team of Zach Litvin, Jake Matthews, Brennan Coleman and Jake Winter earning top honors.
“We knew we had a good squad, a good group of guys,” Pietro said. “We had a lot of chemistry from the previous year.”
Seefried earned silver in the 50 free with Lutter doing the same in the 100 fly, and then the Lions closed out day one with a gold medal in the 200 free relay, as a team of Kelly, Pietro, Seefried and Connor Killion cranked out a 1:28.94.
Day two included silver-medal performances by Killion (500 free) and Pietro (100 breast) as the Lions sent their most talented and most well-rounded team ever to states.
“We have a big group going this year,” Pietro said. “We hope to make an impact.”
Last year, the Lions ascended to the top spot in District One. Now, it looks like they may stay there a while.
“We only lost one senior and we knew we were getting some pretty strong freshmen coming in,” Brown said. “We had a feeling we could pull it off again.”