Just a few months after Scott Ballard and Brad Bishop left the Lawrence High School administration with two big coaching voids to fill, the Bulldogs have managed to find solid coaches with local ties to fill those vacancies.

Longtime baseball and football coach Wally Covell will take Ballard’s baseball position while Lawrence alumnus Scott Walker has been hired to replace Bishop.

“We feel extraordinarily pleased with both hirings, especially to be able to do them in this short a period of time,” said Lawrence athletic director Tom Winston. We feel very fortunate to have them.”

The 68-year-old Covell, who lives in Waterville, resurrected the football programs at Bucksport and Madison in the 1950s. He returned to coach the Orono football team last year after leading the Red Riots to two state and five conference crowns in eight seasons during the 1960’s. Covell, who also served as baseball coach and athletic director at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, was the head baseball and assistant football coach at Colby College (1970-84) and Warren Wilson College in North Carolina in the 1980s.

“I missed baseball,” said Covell, who added he has no intention of giving up his Orono job. “They’re right next door and the people at Lawrence are great, so it seemed like something I couldn’t pass up. It was kind of a natural fit.”

Ballard resigned his job to pursue a master’s degree and wanted to spend what little time away from studying he would have with his two young children.

Walker played football for the Bulldogs under former coaching great Pete Cooper in the 1990s. He was head football coach at Lakeview High School in Michigan before returning to the Fairfield area three years ago, where his father has a take-out restaurant, Sonny’s Pizza.

Walker was as an assistant for Mike McGee on the varsity basketball team and was one of Bishop’s assistants last season while working for the family business.

Michaud on the mend

Stephen Michaud, the hard-luck sophomore wrestler from Medomak Valley in Waldoboro, is making encouraging progress almost two months after breaking his neck while executing a move in a varsity meet and falling on his head last December.

Unable to move his arms or legs after the accident and paralyzed from the neck down, Michaud is glad to report that he can now move his arms and has some feeling in his legs.

“I wasn’t doing too good there for awhile. I had a high fever and finally came out of that,” Michaud said. “After that I started doing a lot of therapy and working hard.”

Michaud’s serious injury has failed to dampen his sense of humor. He had this to say after being asked about his hard-luck history of injuries (broken ribs, sprained knee, etc.) the last two years.

“Last year I broke three ribs and this year I broke my neck so I’ve had a hard time,” Michaud said. “Maybe God’s trying to tell me to stay away from wrestling.”

Even if God isn’t, Michaud’s mother is … In not-so-subtle terms.

“I want to be right back out there, but my mom won’t let me,” he said with a slight chuckle.

Michaud was able to get permission from doctors to attend Saturday’s state championship wrestling meets at the Bangor Auditorium. Shortly after arriving, his presence was announced to the crowd, which immediately gave him a two-minute standing ovation.

“I feel real good right now since I came to this meet. I’m glad I came,” Michaud said. “I was glad they did that. I felt real lucky to have all the support I got.”

Michaud was asked what he’d like to tell those who have sent cards and money and mentioned him in their prayers.

“I’d just like to tell them thanks and they gave me a lot of courage to keep on working hard,” he said.

Cowan cancels coaching

Despite two successful playoff seasons for Maine Central Institute’s football team, head coach Bill Cowan has opted to resign.

The 48-year-old Cowan took a U.S. history and American literature teaching job in Bucksport after the position opened suddenly and unexpectedly last September.

The Bucksport job was attractive because of the school calendar. MCI’s is different than most other schools, which made it difficult for Cowan, who lives in Dedham, to schedule time with his teenage daughter, who lives in Bangor.

“I had been teaching in Pittsfield. After I switched, I tried to commute back and forth, but I felt it was impacting on the job I was doing, at least in terms of the time commitment,” said Cowan, who after a lot of thought, regretfully submitted his resignation. “Julie [Treadwell, MCI athletic director] and I talked several times trying to figure out a way for me to stay, but it just wouldn’t work.”

Cowan, who also coached football for three years and boys soccer at John Bapst in Bangor for three years, led the Huskies to the 2000 Eastern Maine Class C championship.

MCI has already advertised the position and is seeking applications while scheduling interviews.

“It’s tough to lose a good coach like Bill, but it’s something where his commute made it too hard for him to do his job the way he wanted,” Treadwell said.

Andrew Neff’s High school report is published each Wednesday. He can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or aneff@bangordailynews.net.