The Bear Facts

August 23, 2014

Good morning! I’m Betty Straub!

I’m Morgan Frideres!

And I’m Emily Riesenberg! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, where today we’re beginning our twenty-third season on KLGA—bringing you all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

This was a busy and very successful summer for the Golden Bears. We’ll start with boys golf. The boys repeated as state champions in 2014, winning the Class 1-A title by twenty strokes over second place Grundy Center. Jess Marlow finished in third place statewide. Others on the state championship team were Andrew Lallier, Donovan Berte, Logan Capesius, Zach Boelter, and Michael Berke. Congratulations to Coach Dean Lallier and the state champion boys golf team!

The girls golf team won their regional competition and finished in fourth place at state. Alexa Capesius was the runner-up medalist at the state tournament. Also competing for the girls were Brittany Arndorfer, Emily Berte, Emily Marlow, and Chloe Garman. Congratulations on another great state performance to Coach Dean Capesius and the girls golfers!

Right as school was ending last spring the Bears competed in the state track meet. The boys set a record for the most events ever at state, while the girls came home with some state championship medals. The girls 4 x 200 meter relay with Taylor Frideres, Johanna Vaske, Aisha Miller and Nicole Behr brought home the gold from state. Congratulations, track!

The Golden Bear baseball team ended up winning the district championship this summer. Andrew Miller, Tyler Schnurr, Ben Vaske, and Reece Wadle were named team MVPs. Ben shared the Silver Slugger award with Zac Kibbyu, and Andrew and Zac won the Gold Glove defense award. Tyler Schnurr, Devin Degen, and Zach Boelter were the Most Improved Players; Reece Wadle and Zach Boelter were the Outstanding Pitchers; and Joel Vaske and Chase Hatten were named Rookies of the Year. Reece received All-Area, All-CYO, and First Team All-District and All-Conference Awards; and Zac Kibby, Zach Boelter, and Andrew Miller also won All-North Central Conference honors.

The Golden Bear softball team advanced to the regional semi-finals. Johanna Vaske and Betty Straub were Infielders of the Year; Kaitlyn Fogarty was Outfielder of the Year; and Kristin Condoleon was named Pitcher of the Year. The Golden Glove Award went to Kelsey Hovey, while Taylor Hovey and Johanna Vaske were the Big Hitters. Gracie McGuire was named Rookie of the Year, and Avriel Miller and Nicole Zeimet were the Most Improved Players. Kara Eischen was named Most Valuable Player; Taylor Hovey won the Bear Pride Award; and the Coach’s Award went to Kristin Condoleon.

Johanna Vaske and Taylor Hovey won All-State and All-District honors in softball, while Kara Eischen was an Academic All-State honoree. Taylor, Johanna, and Kara also received All-Conference honors, along with Kristin Condoleon and Kelsey Hovey. Congratulations Coaches Wendi and Rob Meister and to all the baseball and softball honorees!

The Golden Bear quiz bowl team had their best summer ever. At the end of the school year they went down to New Orleans to compete in the National Academic Championships. They made playoffs at nationals for the first time ever, and ended up #12 among teams from all over the country. Levi Bernhard, Jake Hamilton, Zach Kollasch, Hannah Bernhard, Tony Kollasch, Taylor Illg, and Devin Degen competed for the Bears. Congratulations to Coach David Burrow and the quiz bowl team!

Also this summer the Golden Bear danz squad competed in a National Dance Alliance clinic. Their routine was judged superior, and they received another national bid. They also won an outstanding showmanship award and team leadership honors. Congratulations to Coach Colleen Conway—Schiltz and all the dance award-winners.

The night before school started this fall we broke ground on the new addition at Garrigan. The school board approved a bid of about 2.9 million dollars, and with our capital campaign we already have more than two million dollars in cash on hand to pay for the construction. The addition will include a new gymnasium and locker rooms, as well as additional classroom and office space. It should be open when school starts up a year from now.

A lot of other changes also happened at school this summer. We’ve done more renovations to the music area, including a whole new choir room. We also got rid of our old computer lab and distributed computers to classrooms around the building. Another change to our technology is that every classroom at Garrigan now has its own wireless hub. There’s also a new security system in place at the school, and there have been improvements to lighting and fire safety.

Each year on the “Bear Facts” we begin our list of Senior Spotlights by looking at our student council presidents. This week we’re featuring Ben Vaske. Here to tell you about him is Dorothy Kirsch!

Ben Vaske is a Bancroft native who is best known as a year-round athlete. Ben helped the Golden Bear football team advance in last year’s state playoffs, and he’s also been to state in track and baseball. He also plays varsity basketball, and he’s a regular referee for intramural basketball. Ben is active in Christian Leadership in Action, and he’s also been in quiz bowl and National Honor Society. He was a class co-president for three straight years, and last spring he was elected co-president of the student body. Ben will be off to college next year, and we wish him all the best in the future.

Thanks, Dorothy Kirsch! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s parish busing at Garrigan and Seton next Monday because we have school but the Algona Community Schools are not in session. 

On Tuesday the cross-country team begins their season with a meet at Spencer. Wednesday we’ll have a student mass, and then next Friday we’ll have the kick-off for our annual calendar drive.

We’ll dismiss early next Friday for the Labor Day holiday. That night the football team plays St. Edmond in Ft. Dodge. Finally next Saturday volleyball season starts, with a tournament at St. Ed’s.

That’s our first “Bear Facts” for the year. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to join us every week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.