Good morning! I'm Dennis Gisch!
And I'm Tyler Struck! Welcome once again to the "Bear Facts", the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
There's a long tradition at Garrigan that when a team wins a trophy for some activity, they place their trophy by the statue of Mary in the main lobby of the school. If you come out to Garrigan this week, you'll see five new trophies and plaques surrounding Mary's feet--all thanks to the Golden Bear danz squad. Last weekend the danz squad was down in Des Moines for the state drill team competition. Not only did they do well, they did outstanding--winning the state drill team championship for the second straight year.
The juniors in danz squad--Kelly Kunkel and Heather Johnson--choreographed the team's pom routine, which received first place honors in Class III. The team received Division I ratings for their pom routine, as well as for their dance/funk routine, which was choreographed by seniors Anna Erpelding, Corrie Stetzel, Jillian Trenary, Amanda Hilbert, Abby Bartolo, and Katie Patterson. The dance/funk routine was good enough to take third place statewide. On top of everything else, the danz squad also received a team academic award for their outstanding combined grade point average.
The repeat state championship means that once again the Golden Bear danz squad has qualified to compete at nationals. You may remember that last year the girls travelled to San Diego and just missed making the televised finals at the national drill team competition. They haven't decided yet whether they'll be going to nationals again in the year 2000. We'll let you know their decision on an upcoming show.
The drill team trophies replaced the big trophy for the state runners-up in football, which will now be proudly displayed by the gym. At the football banquet last week, several award winners were announced. The 1999 Offensive Player of the Year was John Mosbach, while Eric Becker was named Defensive Player of the Year. Eric also received team MVP honors. Josh Meyer, Trent Youngwirth, and Jason Geving were the Most-Improved Offensive Players, while Matt Rahm and Justin Frideres got Most-Improved honors on Defense.
The special "D.E.F.E.N.S.E." Award went to Matt Dornbier. Nick Roethler received the Dennis Cruise Memorial Award, while Duane MacGregor and Jake Kohlhaas split the Bill Higgins Memorial Award. Tyler Struck earned the Larry Weier Scholar-Athlete Award. Hank Greer and Nick Even were the Special Teams Players of the Year, and Kyle Wieland, Derrick Frideres, and Joe Mayer received Scout Team Player honors. Finally, next year's football captains were announced. Heading up the 2000 Golden Bear football team will be Hank Greer and Ben Richter. Congratulations to all these football award-winners!
The Golden Bear quiz bowl team made the final four last weekend at the Spirit Lake Invitational Quiz Bowl Tournament. The team had a 3-1 record in the preliminary rounds, with one of the top point totals among the 18 teams competing in their division. They made the play-offs, but eventually fell to the tournament champions from Schaller-Crestland. Junior Angie Kohlhas was the Bears' team captain. Other team members included junior Lynn Kohlhaas, sophomore Rebecca McGuire, and freshman Steven Kellner. The Bears' next quiz bowl tournament will be January 8th at Eagle Grove.
This coming Thursday the Bishop Garrigan Music Department will have their annual Christmas Concert. The band will perform classic Christmas carols such as "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and "O Come All Ye Faithful". The trobones will also have a spotlight in the concert, as every trombone in our school system will play a song. Garrigan's trombonists are Jeff Hellman, Mike McAlpine, David Monson, Dan Bormann, Louie Bode, and Tanya Broesder.
The choir department has been working hard to perform at the concert. Their selections include "Personet Hodie", a Latin song, and a variation on the traditional favorite "The Twelve Days of Christmas". In addition to the music selections, concert-goers will be treated to the traditional holiday art show in the gym lobby, featuring the work of all the school's art students. We invite everyone to come to the concert next Thursday at 7:30pm.
This week's Senior Spotlight shines on Val Besch. Here with the details is Corrie Stetzel.
Val Besch comes to Garrigan from the town of Whittemore. She was one of the cheerleaders who cheered the football team on to victory last fall. At school her favorite class is Advanced Accounting, but she's not a big fan of British Literature. Away from Garrigan, she works at the Innovations Salon. Val will either go to Iowa State or to a community college next year. She plans to major in Elementary Education at college, and we wish her the very best of luck.
Thanks, Corrie! On this week's Golden Bear calendar, the Garrigan and Seton faculty will have their annual Christmas party tonight. Then tomorrow is the third Sunday of Advent.
Monday the freshman basketball teams host Ft. Dodge St. Edmond. Then on Tuesday we'll have our Advent pennance service at 1:15pm.
Tuesday night it's a big basketball match-up, as the Bears take on the Algona High Bulldogs. The JV games will be at Garrigan, while Algona hosts the varsity contest.
Wednesday there's freshman basketball at Pocahontas. Then on Thursday there's the annual music concert and art show in Friedmann Auditorium. Finally next Friday the basketball Bears travel to Webster City.
That's the "Bear Facts" for this week. We'll have one more broadcast before Christmas vacation, so be sure to catch us again next Saturday for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
