THE BEAR FACTS
May 15, 2021

: Good morning! I’m Isabel Casey!

: I’m Ella Muller!
 

! I’m Veronica Capesius!

: And I’m Maryanne Capesius! Thanks for joining us for our last “Bear Facts” of the school year, as we get ready for summer at Bishop Garrigan High School.

: Last Sunday was graduation day for the Class of 2021. In addition to receiving their diplomas, there were lots of different awards presented at graduation and baccalaureate. Jack Snyder won awards in math, theology, and speech and drama. Abbi Heying was honored by the foreign language and science departments, and Joe Meis won the social studies award.

: Kelle Bormann received the top award from the art department. Amanda Thilges won the business award, and Reese Rosenmeyer earned top honors in English. Joey Trainer won the music department award, and Isaiah Plathe received an award for vocational studies. There was also a “Service Above Self” award from the theology department, and that went to Aric Laubenthal.

: Abbi Heying won statewide honors from the Governor’s Scholar Recognition Program. Other major honorees include Jack Snyder, who won the Rotary Club’s “Service Above Self” Award, Joseph Meis, who earned the Iowa Bar Association’s American Citizenship Award, and Joseph Trainer, who won an award for being kind and volunteerism from the Algona Chamber of Commerce.

: Various donors to the school provided more than $300,000 in scholarships to this year’s seniors, and that’s on top of about half a million dollars seniors received form the colleges they will be going to. A new scholarship this year honored former Garrigan principal Mike Stence, and his wife former police officer Barb Stence. The first recipients of the Stence Scholarship were Noah Bronk, Lazarus Elbert, Harlie Gant, Amber Hackett, Adyn Rowlett, and Angelo Winkel.

: Last week Bishop Garrigan won the Top of Iowa Conference track championship. The Bears had 137 team points, to Forest City’s 124, with all the other conference schools scoring less than 70. Garrigan had seven first place honors at the meet. Molly Joyce took first place in the long jump, and she was also named conference athlete of the year. Audi Crooks took first in both shot put and discus, and Gracie Elsbecker won the 400-meter dash. Garrigan’s 4 by 400, 4 by 800, sprint medley, and shuttle hurdle relay teams also won their events.

: We had to record this week’s show before the state qualifying track meet or the district golf meets. We know the Bears gave their best in those meets, though, and we’re pretty sure Bishop Garrigan will be in the mix in the state meets later this month. Go, Bears!

: Practices are in full swing now for summer sports. The Golden Bear softball team is hoping to defend their conference championship. The team includes returning seniors Bailey Meister, Tara Kron, Halle Menke, and Ava Bartolo; plus junior Lexi Galligan. Sophomores in softball include Emma Bacha, Marisa Rahe, Joey Doerning, and Darius Goche.

: There’s a very talented group of freshmen in softball. They include Ava Hough, Abbie Capesius, Kyra Deike, Ella Schaaf, Morgan Antoine, and Violet Bode. Finally there’s the eighth graders: Hanna Merron, Molly Peterson, Zoe Montag, and Brooke Ludwig. Good luck, softball!

: Garrigan has a long tradition in baseball, and this year’s team is hoping for a good season. Returning seniors are Joseph Meis, Isaiah Byrkeland, Kyphus Goche, Joey Trainer, and Aric Laubenthal. Also back are juniors Collin Casey, Hollis Bode, and Jacob Leerar, and sophomores Garrett Heying, Drew Fogarty, Nathan Merron, and Cal Birkey.

: The freshmen out for baseball are Logan Nemmers, Sam Plathe, Drew Lappe, Brody Ludwig, Justin Bauer, Brayton Kajewski, and Benjy Trainer. Rounding out the team are eighth graders Scott Bormann, Keaton Helleseth, Thadd Kollasch, Brady Galligan, Nick Leerar, Daniel Meis, and Drew Muller. Good luck all summer long to the baseball team!

: The end of the school year marks a transition for several members of our Bishop Garrigan staff. At the high school level longtime business teacher Annette Vaske will be leaving Garrigan to help out as a bookkeeper for the newly merged area Catholic churches. Junior high teacher Dave Wieland will also be working for the new parish. Middle school teacher Mary Foth is retiring, and her colleague Kay Kinseth retired last winter. We’ll miss all these teachers, and we thank them for the many years of service they gave to our school.

: There’s no more Senior Spotlights until next year, but we do want to highlight some events on the Golden Bear calendar. Next Monday are girls golf sectionals, with Garrigan playing at Lake Mills.

: Next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday there’s the state track meet at Drake University in Des Moines. While in-person seating is extremely limited, we encourage you to follow the Bears online.

: Boys golf districts will be next Friday in Fort Dodge, and girls golf regionals are Monday the 24th in Mason City. Baseball and softball also begin on the 24th, with the Bears hosting Belmond—Klemme.

: The band will play for Memorial Day on Monday the 31st, and state golf begins June 1st. There’s baseball and softball almost every night through the first half of July, with playoffs after that.

: Camps for fall sports will be the first week of August, with practices starting August 9th. Then school will start again on Monday, August 23rd.

 That wraps up our twenty-ninth season of the “Bear Facts”. We’d like to thank KLGA for airing our program all these years, and we also thank the sponsors who help keep us on the air.

: We’ll be taking a break for summer, but we plan to be back again on Saturday, August 28, bringing you more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.