Lower Moreland Twp. School District
Athletics & Activities Winter Wrap Up
LMTSD District Personnel
Principal of Lower Moreland High School: Mr. Bill Miles
Principal of Murray Avenue School: Ms. Jennifer Dilks
Principal of Pine Road Elementary School: Mr. Scott Cole
Director of Athletics and Activities: Mr. Matthew Heiland
Athletic Trainer: Mr. Scott DeLange
Faculty Managers: Mr. Matt Crouch & Ms. Kristy Hutchinson
Email: mheiland@lmtsd.org
Website: www.lmtsdathletics.com
Location: 555 Red Lion Road
Phone: 215 938 0220
Twitter: @lmtsdathletics
Message from the Athletic Director
The winter season was full of starts and stops. We were slated to begin back on the Friday before Thanksgiving, when Montgomery County put a halt on all extra curricular activities for a two week period. This pushed our season back to December 7th. Well, then shortly after that a 3 week state shutdown occurred, which paused us until the new year. Our athletes and coaches did a phenomenal job of handling the adversity and lack of consistency.
I must thank the entire LMTSD School Board of Directors and Dr. Davidheiser for approving our plans to put together a season for our approximately 200 athletes this winter. Secondly, I must thank our coaches, who made a lot of sacrifices this past winter season to help give our student athletes some sort of a season.
I also would like to thank the parents and guardians of our athletes. We asked that you make sacrifices, wear masks, not travel to away games, and socially distance yourselves from your friends. You understood the protocols that were in place and did your best to follow them, allowing our athletes to continue their seasons this year.
I think as we close the chapter on this winter season and we progress into the final third of our sports season, we must continue to carry on with our strict safety procedures that were in place through both the fall and winter.
As we approach our spring season, we are getting into the part of the year in which our season was completely shut down last year. As our student athletes experienced last year, there was a group of seniors who were unable to don the blue and gold again. We have a number of athletes who still are hoping to get their final seasons in this year and create a number of opportunities for themselves, both here and at the next level.
Unlike the prior two season, in which we allowed a bit more flexibility in our schedules out of precaution, the Suburban One League is moving full steam ahead this spring. Since this group of athletes lost everything last year, we want to maximize their opportunities on the field this year. This is one of the reasons why following the protocols that are in place are so important, because any type of shutdown will impact our teams greatly this spring.
My goal continues to be the same since back in July. That is to give our student athletes in grades 7-12 some sort of opportunity to play games with their classmates. I am not concerned with wins and losses or whether or not we made playoffs or not. I simply want to make sure our kids have the opportunity to play, because as we continue to learn, we can not take anything for granted in these uncertain times.
I hope you enjoy the recap of the winter season and the important information with regards to the spring sports season here at Lower Moreland. Go Lions!
A Tribute to Forrest Keys
Forrest was a kind and humble person who made our school community a better place. He left a lasting impact on many of his teammates, coaches, classmates, & teachers. Our hope is to find different ways in which we can keep Forrest's high characteristics on the forefront of our athletic programs here at Lower Moreland High School. Below you will see an article written in our Lions Roar virtual student newspaper.
Important Links to Bookmark
Spring Online Store - Open Until April 15th.
Become a Fan of LM Athletics
Go to http://www.lmtsdathletics.com and select join in the upper right hand corner.
- You will enter your information to sign up for the website. Once you do that make sure you are signed into your account for the Big Teams website.
- There a list of tabs towards the top of the screen, you will see Email Alerts on the right hand side. Please click on that tab.
- That will take you to a new screen, click on the My Favorites/Alerts tab. Then you will see favorites. In that window you can add a school, which you will add Lower Moreland.
- Then you can add select teams you wish to follow and get alerts for. This is important in regards to receiving information when events change.
- Click on Alerts and check the boxes of how you want to receive alerts.
- Click on Alert Settings. You can add another email if you want, or add a cell number and receive text messages as well.
This is just another avenue of communication between the Athletic Department and the Lower Moreland Community.
ICAL Feature
In conjunction with Big Teams, I am pleased to announce a new feature on our website that will allow you to download team schedules into your personal calendar. Visit our athletic page to subscribe to the schedule of your choice www.lmtsdathletics.com
If you need help getting started, CLICK HERE for instructions and find the type of calendar options you would like.
SOL Winter All League Selections
Freedom Division First Team All League
Sam Becker : (200 Yd. Freestyle) & (500 Yd. Freestyle)
Sue Bin Park : (200 Yd. IM ) & (100 Yd. Breaststroke)
Sam Becker - Sue Bin Park - Melanie Hwan - Emily Vaidyan (400 Yd. Freestyle Relay)
Noah Ferker : (200 Yd. Freestyle) & (100 Yd. Freestyle)
Jude Blumhardt : (50 Yd. Freestyle)
Jude Blumhardt - Jaden Feldman Ryan Park - Ashton Feldman (200 Yd. Freestyle Relay)
Noah Ferker - Ryan Park Jude Blumhardt- Greg Landis (400 Yd. Freestyle Relay)
Tom Mavroudis (132 lb. Wrestling)
Freedom Division Second Team All League
Grace Dudek : (100 Yd. Backstroke)
Yuval Levi : 1M Diving
Greg Landis : (200 Yard IM) & (100 Yd. Butterfly)
Ryan Park : (500 Yd. Freestyle)
Jude Blumhardt : (100 Yd. Backstroke)
Josh Ferker : (100 Yd. Breaststroke)
Jack Doneker : Boys Basketball
Jess Dugo : Girls Basketball
Adrian Kebuz : (126 lb. Wrestling)
Freedom Division Honorable Mention
Grace Dudek - Sue Bin Park Emma Volokhonsky - Isabella GioiaSwim - (200 Yd. Medley Relay)
Emily Vaidyan : (50 Yd. Freestyle)
Sam Becker - Isabella Gioia Melanie Hwan - Emily Vaidyan (200 Yd. Freestyle Relay)
Noah Ferker - Josh Ferker Greg Landis - Jaden Feldman (200 Yd. Medley Relay)
Aidan Meehan (100 Yd. Breaststroke)
Tori Finnegan Girls Basketball
Liz Neeld Girls Basketball
Brian Hegedus (215lb Wrestling)
Sr. Paige Malpezzi - SOL Univest Athlete of the Week
Winter Activities Update
Literary Magazine
Students Against Melanoma
The LMHS Students Against Melanoma Club has been busy making change over the winter months and helping others. Student advocates entered into a National Public Service Announcement Contest on Skin Cancer Awareness in December. Pictured are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Winners from our club!
Starting in January, students supported a melanoma survivor’s small business by selling jewelry to local community members, LMTSD faculty and staff in which 10% of our proceeds and a portion of the business owner’s proceeds would be donated back to Melanoma research. We are very proud to report that we were able to donate $200.00 from our fundraiser with the help of everyone’s support to Melanoma research.
SAM adviser Mrs. Colleen Quinn-Maxwell and the SAM Club students continue into March with their mission of being the first sun safe school in Pennsylvania keeping the Faculty and Staff of LMTSD sun safe with each member of the district receiving a sunscreen sample for a kickoff to the spring season.
Students are looking forward to entering into the Melanoma Monday National Art contest and having a guest speaker via google meet share a personal story with them of why sun safety is so important this spring.
LMHS Drama - Working
Working: The Musical
Novelist Studs Terkel, interviewed Americans from all walks of life about what they did for a living and how they felt about it. Thus, “Working” the musical is a collage of personal monologues, both spoken and sung, in which characters come briefly, but vividly to life. Songwriting contributors include James Taylor, and Lin Manuel Miranda in this spirited show about the hopes and dreams of everyday people. The show is a testament to the hopes, dignity, and sense of purpose shared by each one of us.
The film will be released May 13th, and will remain open until May 15th. The viewing is “pay per view” more information will be released as the event is closer on the Drama Club website.
Debate Club
The Lower Moreland High School debate team wrapped up the regular season debate schedule in late February with three competitors qualifying for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Debate League Finals. Sophomore Dan Porotov and Junior Michelle Marti competed in the Congressional Debate Final, while Junior Sarah Brodsky competed in the Extemporaneous Speech Final. All three of the LMHS finalists were competitive in the final rounds against the most talented debaters and speakers in the league.
All of the Lower Moreland debaters showed tremendous focus and flexibility this year. The virtual environment for Debate meetings and competitions presented many challenges and barriers for team collaboration and performance, but the young debaters were fluid in their approach and persisted in practicing and competing throughout a year filled with format changes and unexpected technological issues.
The LMHS debate learned and grew a good deal during the unorthodox 2020-21 seasons, and we are hoping to carry that momentum over to next year’s regular season!
Winter Athletics Recap
Boys Basketball
The boys were able to play 11 games this winter and finished the year 4-7. The team finished in 4th place within the SOL Freedom Division and 12th place in the District I 5A rankings.
The team had many bright spots throughout the year, led by Sr. Jack Doneker, who earned 2nd Team All League Honors. Freshman John Kroll took the helm as the primary point guard this year and did a great job of adjusting to varsity high school basketball. Gabe Krutsinger was a huge asset on the defensive side of the ball, often drawing the opponents best players and doing a great job.
Coach Baron was very happy with the growth of the players this season. "After being shutdown multple times and starting behind most other teams, we were playing our best ball at the end of the year." He would also like to thank his 7 seniors for all of their contributions to the boys basketball program throughout their time here at Lower Moreland. Those seniors were Jared Shein, Andrew Ung, Roy Shimon, Eyal Khaikin, Joey Morozin, Justin Sandler, & Jack Doneker.
Sr. Eyal Khaikin
Sr. Jack Doneker
Jr. Braden Alicea
Cheer
Girls Basketball
The girls were able to play 12 games this winter season and finished the year 5-,7, finished tied for 3rd in the league standings and finished 5th in the final District I 4A rankings.
The team with many fresh faces was led by Junior Jess Dugo, who opened the season with a 33 point performance vs. Springfield. Other strong contributors to the team this season were returners Liz Neeld, Tori Finnegan, Ofek Gur, & Jess Shein. There were also some positive lights from newcomers to the roster. Freshman Ameila Brown and Zoe Alden contributed a lot of minutes as freshman on the varsity team.
With zero seniors this year, the team will return everyone as they look to compete for a playoff berth once again.
Jr. Jess Dugo
Jr. Ofek Gur
Jr. Jessica Shein
Indoor Track
The good news is the team got to compete before the snow hit at the Holy Ghost Prep Invitational. Glen Mills School began hosting weekly meets for both the boys and the girls in which our athletes were able to compete. Finally, on March 6th we were able to host our own invitational here at Lower Moreland.
Overall, it was a successful season as our kids did get the opportunity to compete a few times and race against kids from other schools in preparation for the spring season.
Boys
Shejin Shaju, Aidan Kasner, Barton Cooper, Ethan Jarosiewicz, & Shane Playford also all had major contributions throughout the indoor season and Coach Green is very excited with the progress the team made in this oddity of a season.
Girls
Junior Jade McCool continued to fine tune her craft with the field events throughout the winter and looks to improve throughout the spring season. Other athletes who had successful indoor seasons were Leena Saidi, Lojen Abdallah, Lizzy Allen, Nina Dudek, & Melina Papanikolaou. With the increased numbers on the girls roster, the team looks continue its rise as a strong contender in all three seasons of XCT&F in the future.
Amy Zesinger & Lojen Abdallah
Siri Hellenbrand & Leena Saidi
Hannah Vaidyan & Nina Dudek
Boys Swimming
A host of other swimmers have been instrumental in the success of the team this year. Some of those include all league selections: Greg Landis, Jude Blumhardt, Bumyeol Park, Ashton Feldman, Aidan Meehan, & Josh Ferker.
The boys won the SOL Freedom Division championship in their first season. The boys then prepared for the District I Championships. The boys team won their 7th consecutive District Championship with an impressive performance as a whole. The following boys won their events at districts and qualified for states.
200 Medley Relay: (Jude Blumhardt - Josh Ferker - Greg Landis - Jaden Feldman )
200 Individual Medley: Greg Landis
200 Freestyle : Noah Ferker
400 Freestyle Relay ( Noah Ferker - Greg Landis - Bumyeol Park - Jude Blumhardt )
The boys sent five swimmers to states. Senior Noah Ferker was the state runner up in the 200 Freestyle event. Ferker was also part of the 400 Freestyle Relay team that captured the 2021 PIAA State Championship. Along with Ferker in the relay were seniors Greg Landis & Jaden Feldman, along with sophomore Jude Blumhardt.
The following relay also set a new school record this year.
200 Free Relay- Jude Blumhardt, Greg Landis, Noah Ferker, Jaden Feldman 1:26.82 (2021)
Sr. Greg Landis
4x District Champion
Member of 400 Freestyle Relay State Championship
Sr. Noah Ferker
4x District Champion
Member of 2018 State Championship Team
Member of 400 Freestyle Relay State Championship
So. Yony Rober
Girls Swimming and Diving
The girls were led by a handful of swimmers, including Sam Becker. She set the school record in the 200 Freestyle, and she will also be continuing her swimming career at Lafayette College next year. The other three senior swimmers Grace Dudek, Emily Vaidyan, Emma Volokhonsky all had a great impact on the swim program in their time at Lower Moreland. They have helped the program continue to grow and it their commitment has been extremely evident.
Becker as well as freshmen Sue Bin Park & Talia Wiggins won SOL Freedom Division championships at the all league meet. Becker in the 200 and 500 Freestyle, while Wiggins won 50 Freestyle and Park won the 100 Breaststroke.
At the District I meet, the girls finished in 2nd place, improving from 7th last year. A tremendous improvement that they will look to build on next year. Becker Dudek, Park & Wiggins set the new school record in the 200 Medley Relay at Districts this year as well. The following swimmers won their races at Districts and qualified for states.
Sue Bin Park -- 200 Individual Medley
Sam Becker -- 500 Freestyle
Sue Bin Park -- 100 Breaststroke
The following were new school records this year.
200 Medley Relay- Dudek, Park, Becker, Wiggins 1:55.44 (2021)
200 Free- Sam Becker 2:00.88 (2021)
500 Free- Sam Becker 5:13.78 (2021)
Sr. Emma Volokhonsky
Sr. Sam Becker
District Champion
New School Record Holder
Fr. Talia Wiggins
District Qualifier
Diving
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and the limitations of state qualifiers, her runner up finish this year didn't allow her to qualify as she normally would have. Overall it was a tremendous career for Yuval and we wish her well as she continues in her years beyond Lower Moreland.
Sr. Yuval Levi
2x District Runner Up
2x State Qualifier
Wrestling
There is a tremendous amount of credit that needs to go out to the coaches and teams as they got through the year with zero pauses or shutdowns, in as I mentioned earlier, one of the most concerning sports entering the year.
The team only had 16 wrestlers come out for the team this year, but they showed up each day to practice with a willingness to follow protocols and stay safe.
Although the team finished with 0-8 record overall, there were some bright spots throughout the season.
Jr. Tom Mavroudis earned First Team All SOL Freedom/Liberty by winning first place at the league championship meet at Quakertown High. Sr. Adrian Kebuz capped his wonderful career at Lower Moreland by earning Second Team All League and also qualified for the District I 3A tournament this year. Finally Jr. Brian Hegedus also earned Honorable Mention All League. Tomas Lapeika, Sean Maloney, Alex Kebuz, & Nick Simon also earned victories throughout the season versus high level competition.
Coach Spoerl would like to thank Jackson Leska, Adrian Kebuz, Julian Ogawa, & Frankie Calderon for their contributions to the wrestling program throughout their time here at Lower Moreland.
Jr. Tom Mavroudis
Sr. Adrian Kebuz
District I Qualfier
Sr. Julian Ogawa
Murray Avenue Athletics
Girls Basketball
The 7th grade team also battled a strong team vs. Abington, but they were victorious over Upper Moreland and added another win over Cedarbrook. Emma DiJoseph, Edona Selamaj, and Mady Rositer played all-around consistent basketball throughout the entire season.
Boys Basketball
The boys team finished the year winless, however did have a few come down to the last minute. In the opening game, the Lions fell to Cedarbrook by 3 points. They also competed valiantly against Upper Moreland in both games, but fell just short. Andre Zoubroulis led the 8th grade team on offense in this abbreviated season. They also got valuable contributions from Dan McCreesh, & Jameer Zachary. Jameer did a great job as the primary ball handler and Dan used his athleticism to find a role wherever needed on the court.
The 7th grade team finished the year with 2 wins. The team has a lot of height and athleticism on their roster. Max Moshinski was the teams leading scorer throughout the season. Stokes Tate did a phenomenal job rebounding, setting screens, and scoring for the team. Nathan Fellah also added consistent play throughout the short season.
Spring Athletics
Lower Moreland has also expanded its sports programming this year and has added Unified Track & Field. We currently have 11 athletes registered for the team and they will begin meets in mid April. We are really looking forward to this new opportunity that will help provide more opportunities for our students at Lower Moreland.
Middle School Dates:
Baseball & Softball will start on Tuesday April 6th. The first week of practices will be Tuesday, Thursday & Friday.
Track & Field will begin on Thursday April 8th and also practice on Friday that week.
For up to date schedules, please see the calendar link.