Good morning! I'm Cassie Recker!
I'm Jesse Bode!
And I'm Brooke Myers! You're listening to the "Bear Facts". Welcome once again to the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Fourteen Garrigan girls are in Des Moines this weekend for the Iowa State Dance and Drill Team Championships. The Golden Bear danz squad is looking to repeat their success from last year as they compete Veterans Auditorium. The girls will compete in Class 4 pom at 1pm today and in Class 2 jazz at 4pm. Their dance is a classic jazz routine set to Frank Sinatra's "Almost Like Being in Love", and their pom routine is a mix of '70s disco music. Half the squad is new this year, and they have been practicing hard since November 1st.
This year's squad is younger than the group that won the national championship last year. There are only three returning seniors in danz squad this year: Maria Erpelding, Nicole Krieps, and Melissa Vaske. Ashley Shaw is the lone junior on the squad. The core of the group is sophomores-including Jessica Cink, April Wolf, Melissa Hilbert, Jennifer Vaske, Tara Trenary, Lizzie Mayer, Michaela Pease, and Amanda Shaw. Freshman Marisa Spain rounds out the squad. All the girls and coach Colleen Schiltz are excited and looking forward to more success.
This is one of the busiest times of the year for the Golden Bear quiz bowl team. Last Tuesday they competed in the semi-annual Knowledge Master Open, a computer-based competition. Garrigan's varsity team improved their score from last spring and finished right in the middle of Iowa schools. They did better than 4-A schools like Davenport North, Muscatine, and Newton, and they also beat the only other area school to compete, Clay Central-Everly. A team of freshmen with only three members also competed. They didn't fare as well overall, but they still managed to do better than last year's freshman score.
There's more quiz bowl action today. Eleven players are up in Spirit Lake for one of the oldest tournaments in Iowa. John Kohlhaas will be the varsity captain today. His teammates are Tyler Rolling, Matt Courtney, Jesse Bode, and Amber Golwitzer. The JV team includes captain Jacob Richter, together with Renee Taphorn, Samantha Kirsch, Bridget Doughan, Alison Brandenburg, and Noah Devine. Good luck once again to the quiz bowl team!
Basketball season is here. The Golden Bear girls started out their season with big wins over Sentral and Iowa Falls. This year's girls team includes senior veterans Nettie McGuire, Lindsay Becker, and Michaela Mescher. Other varsity players are Miranda Boekelman, Amanda Steier, Kayla Reding, Emily DeWaard, Sarah Kunkel, Alison Brandenburg, Denise Kohlhaas, Sarah Funk, Kelly Schmidt, and Alicia Shackelford.
The boys basketball team has a lot of experience. Seniors Adam Arndorfer, Aaron O'Kane, and Scott Stence, Brent Shillington, and Grant Smith will be at the core of the team. Others to watch are juniors Mark Parrish, Matt Vitzthum, Derek Tindall, Cole Vautier, Sean Kohlhaas, and Matt Courtney, and sophomores Bobby Geelan, Dan Garman, Nate Pierson, and Ross Froehlich. Good luck all season long to both the girls and boys basketball teams!
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Zac McGuire and Stoney Wagner. Here to tell you about them is Scott Stence.
Zac McGuire is an Algona native who enjoys activities like intramural basketball. He also enjoys music. In addition to his classes at Garrigan, Zac challenges himself by taking courses at Iowa Lakes Community College. Zac plans to continue his studies at Iowa State next year. Good luck, Zac!
Stoney Wagner also lives in Algona. He enjoys art and music. Whenever he has a spare minute you might see him sketching or looking through guitar catalogs. Stoney also plans to go to college next year, and we wish him all the best.
On our Golden Bear calendar today, there's the state dance championships at Veterans Auditorium in Des Moines and a quiz bowl tournament in Spirit Lake. Monday we'll have a K-12 mass at St. Cecelia's for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
There's a financial aid meeting for junior and senior parents Monday night at 7:00. Then Tuesday the basketball teams play at Eagle Grove.
Wednesday we'll dismiss at 12:45 for teacher in-service. That afternoon the quiz bowl team will participate in the Trivia Champions Think-a-Thon, a charity event that was postponed last month.
Wednesday night the BGHS vocal department will have their Christmas concert. They'll be joined by 7th and 8th grade choirs from Seton Middle School. The concert starts at 7pm.
Thursday the freshman basketball teams host Estherville. Friday is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of America.
The Bears will be hosting a four-game basketball match-up with Clarion/Goldfield that night. There will be a cheer clinic after school, and the cross-country team will host a chili supper during the games.
Next Saturday the math team will host a Great Plains Math League competition, and that night the faculty and staff will hold their annual Christmas party.
That's the "Bear Facts" for this week. Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
