THE BEAR FACTS
November 9, 2013
Good morning! I’m Cassidy Vitzthum!
And I’m Zac Kibby! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, where we’re celebrating the success of all our fall activities here at Bishop Garrigan High School.
This past week has been a really busy one, but it’s been pretty incredible. It started last weekend when the Golden Bear cheerleaders earned the title of state champions. They were at the Iowa State Fairgrounds last Saturday for the Iowa Cheerleading Coaches’ Association state competition. Judges evaluated the girls’ skills at motion, dance, tumbling, jumps, and stunts as well as their showmanship, skill, and enthusiasm.
The Golden Bears scored high in every category. The girls not only took first place in Class 1-A, but their score was the highest in any class except for 4-A. Only the largest schools from the Des Moines area did better than Bishop Garrigan. The competition cheer squad includes seniors Nicole Behr, Hunter Theesfeld, Anna Hohmeister, Mallory Schiltz, Mariah McCall, and Aisha Miller; junior Megan Lappe; sophomores Kylie Fox, Sophia Grandgenett, and Kenzie Keith; and freshmen Sam Bormann and Danielle Plathe. Congratulations to Coach Erin Miller and the state champion cheerleaders!
There was another state champion last weekend as well. Freshman Courtney Noonan competed at the Iowa Dance and Drill Team Association solo dance championships last Saturday. The judges evaluated appearance, choreography, technique, execution, and showmanship, and Courtney’s jazz routine earned 67.8 out of a possible 70 points, for first place in Class 1. Freshman Sarah Skilling also earned a Division I rating at state, with a score than tied her for 13th among 94 competitors. Congratulations, dancers!
The Golden Bear boys cross-country team also competed at state last weekend. The Bears finished right in the middle of the pack, coming in 9th among the top teams in the state. Junior Tony Kollasch finished 12th among team runners. Zach Kollasch, Tyler Schnurr, Nick Bronk, and Jake Hamilton also had counting scores for the Bears. Mark Fakler was the Bears’ sixth runner, and Taylor Illg set a personal record in his first time running at state. Congratulations to Coach Daryl Kohlhaas and the cross-country team!
We had to tape last week’s “Bear Facts” before the Golden Bear volleyball team’s regional semi-final match. It was back and forth all night, and the Bears fell behind early in the deciding fifth set. The girls lived up to the crowd’s “Bob the Builder” cheers, though, and they went on to beat Rockford and move on to the regional final.
Unfortunately the Bears faced five-time defending state champion Tripoli in their last regional game. They played hard, but it just wasn’t quite enough to move on to state. Seniors Kara Eischen, Taylor Hovey, and Vanessa Dodds have been at the core of this year’s team; backed up by juniors Cassidy Vitzthum, Kairlyn Fogarty, Patricia Brandt, Betty Straub, Emily Marlow, Taylor Frideres, and Paige
Berte.
Rounding out the team are sophomores Olivia Vaske, Avriel Miller, Nicole Zeimet, Johanna Vaske, Carolyn Baxter, and Emily Baumann. Congratulations on a good season and a great playoff run to Coach Dave Schnurr and the volleyball team!
While the Golden Bear football team makes it to playoffs pretty much every year, the last time Garrigan won a playoff game was when we were in grade school. The Bears turned that around this year, and they did it decisively. The district champions rolled over West Sioux in their playoff opener, and they stunned a very cocky Hinton team 54 – 20 to advance to the state quarterfinals.
We had to record this week’s show before Friday night’s third round game. The Bears were underdogs last night against West Lyon, the top-ranked team in the state. The Golden Bears have been playing their best football in playoffs, though. We know they left everything on the field last night, and we’re hoping it was enough to move them on to the
UNI-Dome.
The Golden Bear quiz bowl team is back in action this morning, though we know they’ll be tired after last night’s game. Garrigan has three teams competing in the Algona Invitational today. Levi Bernhard, Cassidy Vitzthum, and Jake Hamilton are serving as captains today. Also playing are national veterans Hannah Bernhard, Tony Kollasch, Zach Kollasch, Devin Degen, and Taylor
Illg.
Others competing in today’s tournament are Patricia Brandt, Emily Marlow, Kylie Fox, Levi Capesius, and Joseph Espinosa. Good luck today and throughout the rest of the season to Coach David Burrow and the quiz bowl team!
The holiday season starts this weekend at Garrigan, with the 2013 madrigal. Madrigal guests will take a trip back to Renaissance times, with a merry feast and jolly music. Jake Hamilton will be at the center of things as the jester; and the royal court includes Morgan Frideres, Dorothy Kirsch, Johanna Vaske, Nick Bronk, Corey Weydert, and Mark
Fakler.
Other lords and ladies include Mark Fakler, Tony Kollasch, Erin Quinlin, Betty Straub, and Nick Kayser; plus Kara Eischen, Christian Matthews, Taylor Hovey, and Sophia Kaduce. Taylor Illg, Zach Kollasch, and Levi Capesius also have key parts; as do Kristin Condoleon, Brittany Kirsch, Chloe Garman, Gaby Steil, Mariah Bronk, and Carolyn Baxter. There’s a madrigal dinner tonight and a brunch tomorrow morning. Best wishes to everyone involved!
The Bishop Garrigan magazine drive continues for the next two weeks. All the high school students have packets, and you can either find your favorite Golden Bear to order or order online through a link at the bottom of the “What’s New” page on our website. When you buy magazines through the school, 40% of your money stays right here to support student activities at
Garrigan.
Because we’ve had so many school activities to report on, we’ll be skipping over our Senior Spotlight this week. We’ll be featuring more seniors in the coming weeks.
On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s quiz bowl today at Algona High. There’s a madrigal dinner at 6:30 tonight, followed by a brunch tomorrow at 11:30.
Monday many of the high school students will be down at Jordan Creek in West Des Moines as their reward from the calendar drive last September. Wednesday we’ll have mass in the morning, with an early dismissal for teacher inservice that afternoon.
Next Friday is the state football semi-finals at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. That night a weekend Search retreat begins at
Garrigan.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for listening, and be sure to join us again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
