Good morning! I'm Matt Courtney!
And I'm Anthony McGuire! You're listening to the "Bear Facts", the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Did you know that the average American man wears a size 101/2 shoe? ... or that chicken soup has been proven to work better than over-the-counter medications at relieving sinus congestion? ... or that Lou Gehrig's #4 was the first number retired in professional sports? If your brain is full of pointless facts like that, then you should be in quiz bowl. Today, for the fourteenth straight year, Garrigan is hosting the largest quiz bowl tournament in Iowa. Over 300 students should be on hand, coming from places as far away as Boone, LeMars, and Parkersburg.
Area teams competing include Algona High, Sentral, Twin River Valley, Corwith, Wesley Luverne, North Kossuth, and West Bend Mallard. As the host school, Garrigan will have the largest delegation at the tournament-with thirty-seven students competing on different teams. Captains for today's event include Matt Courtney, Gavin Freking, Renee Taphorn, Andrew Missal, Chris Loebach, Alex Bradley, Chad Lambert, Amanda Thompson, and Mike Garman.
Other Garrigan students competing include Jacob Hellman, Alison Brandenburg, Anthony McGuire, and Jacob Richter; Jeff Lappe, Spenser Rahm, and Joe Rahm; Brianne Donahe, Samantha Kirsch, and Emily DeWaard; Seth Rogers, Jude Studer, Jesse Studer, and Brandon Rowley; JoAnn Kirsch, Chris Scobba, and Amanda Cruise; Brian Capesius, Josh Rahm, and Joe Dailey; Brent Kajewski, Jacob Zittritsch, and Shane Koob; Amanda Golwitzer, Bridget Doughan, and Holly Lancaster; and Ethan Dahlhauser, Chris Gelhaus, and Dylan Freking.
Quiz bowl works like a game show. Every tournament is a little different, but the Garrigan tournament is pretty typical. In the morning three teams at a time compete in different centers-with sixty-six teams all together. The games begin with toss-up questions like the ones you heard at the beginning. Anyone can answer them, and if an answer is right, the team earns 10 points. In the bonus round, there are related questions in different categories-like five questions about chemical elements or the origin of states' names.
Every quiz bowl game ends with a lightning round. In that round each team has 60 seconds to answer ten related questions on topics ranging from spelling to state quarters. The score can turn around a lot in the lightning round, because the last place team has first choice of categories. After the four morning games are over, the top sixteen overall teams advance to a play-off in the afternoon. Garrigan will give out trophies to the top four teams in the tournament. Good luck to Coach David Burrow and the whole quiz bowl team!
Last week the Garrigan football team got their biggest victory of the season, even bigger than their win over Algona a month ago. The Bears defeated #4-rated Aplington Parkersburg, most likely guaranteeing themselves a play-off spot and eliminating A - P from the post-season. While the whole team played great, a lot of the highlights came from Derek Tindall, who added to his school rushing record. We wish good luck to the Bears in the rest of their games this season.
The cross-country team also had a good week. Last Tuesday they ran in the North Central Conference meet, and the Golden Bear girls finished in second place overall. Maria Kohlhaas received all-conference honors, and Kelli Black, Tami Lallier, Carrie Courtney, and Alison Brandenburg also finished in the top twenty. On the boys' side Brandon Rowley ended up in 15th place overall, and Jacob Hellman finished 20th. The cross-country team runs at district next Thursday at South Hamilton. Go, cross-country!
Our senior spotlight this week shines on Kristi Reding. Here to tell you about her is Emily DeWaard.
Kristina Reding is a Wesley native who is one of the co-presidents of this year's senior class. She's active in Spanish club, Christian Leadership in Action, and the National Honor Society. Away from school you might see her working at the Scoreboard or the Algona Country Club. After high school Kristi wants to major in accounting at UNI, and we wish her the very best of luck.
Thanks, Emily! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there's the big BGHS quiz bowl going on all day today. Competition starts at 10am. Admission is free, and the public is invited to watch.
Monday the advanced biology and ecology classes are going on a field trip. Becca Kramer and Kandice Roethler have a swim meet in Carroll that night, there's freshman football at Algona High, and the JV football team will host Clarion-Goldfield.
Wednesday we'll have no classes at Garrigan, though Seton and Algona High are in session in the morning. There's staff development that day for the teachers. Then on Thursday we'll begin the annual magazine drive.
Also on Thursday several Christian Leadership students will host a retreat for 8th graders in Whittemore. There's volleyball and cross-country districts Thursday night, and then on Friday the football team hosts Mason City Newman. The baseball and softball teams will serve a chili supper before the game.
Finally this week we'd like to congratulate the BGHS Solid Gold Marching Band. Last week at state they received another Division One rating. Congratulations to Mr. Freking and the band!
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.
