When she found out she was pregnant, Jen Babcock didn’t have a tough time finding a temporary replacement for her post as John Bapst cheering coach.

She just asked Jessica Lawrence to take over some of the duties. It’s a formula that has worked well so far this season as the Crusaders of Bangor won the Penobscot Valley Conference Large School Championship Saturday at MDI High School.

“She had cheered for me and judged in the past and is a John Bapst alum, so I knew that nobody else would be as committed to John Bapst cheering as she would,” Babcock said after the awards ceremony.

Babcock said Lawrence started with the Crusaders during football season before Babcock had her baby. After Babcock gave birth to a 7-pound, 15-ounce boy named Evan, Lawrence took over full time.

Recently, Babcock has returned to 3-4 practices a week. It helped that the team worked hard to ready their routine weeks before it had to be finished.

“From the minute I told them I was pregnant, [the team] knew they had to take a lot of ownership in their routine to make it work,” she said.

Babcock and Lawrence were both listed as coaches on the PVC program.

“We all just work really, really well together,” Lawrence said. “We’re lucky.”

Crusaders, Patriots set records

It was a record-setting meet for the John Bapst and Bangor Christian swim teams Friday night against Old Town as Bapst’s Drew Desrosiers broke two school records, while the Patriots shattered three of their own marks.

Desrosiers clocked a time of 23.29 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, breaking Peter Small’s record of 23.46 set in 1994. Later in the meet Desrosiers broke his own record in the 100 breaststroke, going 1:03.56 to better the 1:04.07 he swam in 2007.

Bangor Christian’s Regan French and Megan Murphy each set an individual mark and helped set a relay record.

French’s time of 33.04 in the 50 free broke current teammate Mandi Hall’s 2007 time of 34.27, while Murphy’s 1:23.80 broke her own 1:25.82 set last year. French, Murphy, Hall and Chelsea Shappey’s time of 4:48.91 broke a 400 free relay record of 5:14.97 set last year.

John Bapst, which is coached by Gary Isherwood, serves as a cooperative team for Bangor Christian. The Patriots’ finishes aren’t figured into the team scores but can be used to qualify the team for state championships.

Unsung heroes sought

The Maine Principals’ Association is seeking nominations for the Unsung Heroes Award, which will be presented at the March 14 conference, “Mentoring Women in Sports X.”

Qualifications include women in Maine who have worked to build and enhance women’s sports in the state by, for example, starting a new training program for a school, established a new sport, coached for a long period of time or have been an outstanding role model for a school or program.

To nominate an individual, submit a letter to the MPA by Feb. 22.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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