Good morning! I'm Steven Kellner!
And I'm Sarah Schmitt! Welcome once again to the "Bear
Facts", the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High
School.
This has been a really screwed up week here at Garrigan. Some people would say that every week is goofed up somehow-that there's no such thing as a really "normal" week at school. This week, though, had a lot more distractions than most weeks. We really had only one truly "normal" day of school this week-and even that day most people's minds weren't entirely on their classes. All the distractions may not have been the best for education, but they were fun ... and they're what makes up most of our news on "Bear Facts" this week.
First, there's volleyball. The Golden Bear girls went further in play-offs this fall than they'd ever gone before, all the way to the regional semi-finals. All good things have to come to an end, though, and Monday night the volleyball team ended their season with a decisive loss to Lake Mills. We're proud of the great season the girls had, though. While we wish they had gone to state, ending up one game away is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Congratulations to the volleyball team on an awesome year.
Then, of course, there's football. The Golden Bears were the only eleven-man team in the area to qualify for the state football play-offs. They won the district title with a decisive win over the defending state champions from Southern Cal, and they were looking forward to a successful play-off run. Unfortunately injuries plagued the Bears toward the end of the season. One of our top players suffered a fracture but continued playing-with doctor's approval-for nearly half the season on a broken leg. Our starting quarterback suffered an injury to his throwing hand, and a long, tough season took a toll on several other players, too.
Those injuries showed in the opening game of play-offs. We started the game with our JV quarterback and ran a variety of new plays to get around the injury problems. Unfortunately, while our defense had an excellent night, things did not go as well for the offense. The game was scoreless at halftime, and Garrigan and Ogden were tied at six at the end of regulation play. It was the closest of all the play-off games in the state, and in the end things came down to double overtime. The Bears played a tough game, but their season ended Wednesday night with a 18 - 12 loss. We're proud of our Bears, though, and we salute them on another great football season.
There was one more piece of sports news this week. Junior Jeff Hellman ran last weekend at the state cross-country meet in Fort Dodge. Jeff had qualified for state by finishing in seventh place at districts. He ended up in the middle of the pack at state, running the five-kilometer course in a time of 18 minutes 5 seconds. While that's more than two minutes slower than the state record-which is held by Garrigan graduate Adam Sundall-Jeff ran well, and he has another whole year to improve his time. We're looking forward to him returning to state next year, and we'd like to see the rest of the team join him.
All the special sports activities played havoc on the rehearsal schedule for the BGHS fall musical, Fiddler on the
Roof. To help get things ready, there were special musical rehearsals during the school day this week, as well as an already scheduled matinee performance for Seton Grade School students. The play features Jeff Hellman and Rebecca McGuire in leading roles. Other key cast members include Amber Golwitzer, Keshar Nadkarni, Janel Richter, Kim Frideres, Rose Mayer, and Autumn Thompson; as well as Steven Kellner, Mandy Rahm, Bob Brandenburg David Murphy, Josh Broesder, and Chris Kohlhaas. Other cast members include John Kohlhaas, Jacob Richter, Zac Lickteig, Amanda Wolf, and Rosalind Kirsch, and rounding things out are Matt Courtney, Eric Cassman, Mike Loebach, Chris Buscher, Andrea Schiltz, and Cathy
Hellman.
The musical closes tonight, and we want to clarify the showtime. Things were originally scheduled to start at 7pm, and most of the publicity for the play featured that time. Unfortunately, a lengthy feature article in the Algona Upper Des Moines listed the curtain time as 7:30. The directors didn't want anyone to read that article and show up late, so they pushed back the starting time. Tonight is your last chance to see Fiddler on the Roof, so be sure to come out to Friedmann Auditiorium at 7:30 to catch the show.
There are three other big events this weekend. Today four members of the Golden Bear danz squad are in Pella for the state individual drill team competition. Monica Studer, Maria Erpelding, Allison Courtney, and Nikki Loebig will all be showing off their stuff, and we hope they'll dance their way to victory. Also today there's one of the larger quiz bowl tournaments in the area. Twenty Garrigan students will play on four different teams at the Algona High Quiz Bowl Tournament. Also today the math team starts their season with a competition at Sioux Center. Good luck to all these Golden Bear activities!
This week's Senior Spotlight shines on Mike McAlpine and Michael Loebach. Here to tell you about them is Amanda Wolf.
Mike McAlpine is originally from northwest Iowa. When he first came to the area, he was a Whittemore native. Now his parents are in Minnesota and Mike lives here in Algona. Mike has been one of our most frequent announcers on "Bear Facts" this fall. He's also enjoys activities like quiz bowl. You may have seen Mike working at Hy-Vee-either here or up in Minnesota. Mike will be off to college next year, and we wish him all the best.
Michael Loebach lives in Whittemore. You've probably also heard him announcing hear on the "Bear Facts". He's also a four-year veteran on the cross-country team, and his other activities include speech, drama, music, and intramural basketball. Mike keeps busy by taking some of the toughest classes at Garrigan, and he'll also be a college man next year. Good luck to both of these Mikes.
Thanks, Amanda! On our Golden Bear calendar today there's quiz bowl this morning at Algona High, the state individual dance finals all day in Pella and a math competition at Sioux Center. Tonight at 7:30 your last chance to see the Garrigan fall musical Fiddler on the Roof.
All next week is National Chemistry Week. It will be a much quieter week at Garrigan than this past week was. Sunday St. Cecelia's Parish will have their fall dinner. Then Monday girls' basketball practice starts.
Thursday the football cheerleaders will have their awards banquet. Then next Saturday there's more quiz bowl, with the Bears traveling to Orange City for the Little Dutch tournament at MOC/Floyd Valley High School.
That's our first "Bear Facts" for November. Thanks for listening, and don't miss our show next week when we'll bring you more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
