THE BEAR FACTS

May 21, 2022

Good morning! I’m Benjamin Trainer!

I’m Brendan Plathe!

And I’m Reagan Murphy! Welcome to our last “Bear Facts” show of the 2021-2022 school year. Thanks for joining us to hear the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

High school students at Garrigan have been out for summer for a full week now. We’re used to having days tacked on to the end of the school year to make up snow days, but this year three days were shaved off because of the street closure due to construction on McCoy Street. Fortunately, with the state now counting minutes rather than days, we’re still over the required time for a full year of school.

Longtime math teacher David Burrow said this was the second strangest end to the school year he’s seen in thirty-nine years of teaching. It was still far more normal than two years ago, though, when we ended the year online due to COVID. Teachers rushed to get things finished up, and another school year was in the books.

The state track meet is happening this weekend down at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Class 1-A is the hardest class to qualify for state. Athletes either have to win their event, or they have to wait to have their times compared with entries from all over the state. The Golden Bears were fortunate this year to have eight different events win at the state qualifying meet, all of which automatically moved on to state.

On the girls side Audi Crooks is defending her state championship in the shot put, and Molly Joyce is hoping to repeat as state champion in the long jump. Audi also qualified in the discus, and Molly is running at state in the 100-meter hurdles. Four girls relays also won the state qualifying meet: the 4 by 100, 4 by 400, shuttle hurdle, and sprint medley relays.

Those running the relays include Reagan Murphy, Emma Grandgenett, Zoe Montag, Abbie Capesius, and Molly Joyce. The boys also had a champion at the state qualifying meet. Even though his height was nowhere close to a personal best, senior Collin Casey won the high jump to move on to state. Congratulations to all these regional champions, and good luck to all the Golden Bears at the state track meet

Summer sports have already begun. The Golden Bear baseball team began their season yesterday, and they’re hosting a tournament today. The Bears return senior veterans Collin Casey, Hollis Bode, and Jacob Leerar; as well as juniors Nathan Merron, Cal Birkey, Drew Fogarty, and Garrett Heying. Sophomores Drew Lappe, Justin Bauer, and Benjy Trainer; and freshmen Keaton Helleseth and Daniel Meis round out the varsity team.

There are no seniors out for softball this year, but there is a good crew of younger players. The softball team returns the pitcher—catcher combo of Ella Schaaf and Abbie Capesius. Also back are Darius Goche, Marissa Rahe Joey Doerning, and Emma Bacha; plus Morgan Antoine, Violet Bode, Kyra Deike, Ava Hough, Hannah Merron, Zoe Montag, and Molly Peterson. Rounding out the team are younger players like Sacha Alesch, Alyssa Haugland, Addison Kuper, and Emmi Bartolo.

The softball team begins their season next Monday. Until the end of June both they and the baseball team have games almost every night. Playoffs start a little earlier this year than in the past, with both district baseball and regional softball the week of July 1st. That’s because of the new “family week” the state has built into the activity calendar at the end of July.

The end of the school year always brings a few changes in the staff. Next year will bring quite a few new faces at the elementary level, but there’s not many changes for the high school. Librarian and student council moderator Tricia Greteman is the main staff member who is leaving.

Mentioning departing staff, we also want to say farewell to Sister Janet Goetz, a Wesley native who is the last Presentation sister to work in the Diocese of Sioux City. Sister Janet used to work in the office at Garrigan, and for many years she’s volunteered at school in many different ways. She’ll be heading to the mother house in Dubuque this summer, and we wish her well in retirement.

We normally end our “Bear Facts” shows with a look at the coming week, but for our final show of the year we’ll just hit the highlights of the next fourteen weeks. Today the state track meet finishes up in Des Moines, and the baseball team is hosting a tournament with Webster City and St. Mary’s.

Softball starts on Monday, and the state golf tournaments take place next week. Then a week from Monday the Garrigan band will play for the Memorial Day festivities in Algona. The CYO baseball and softball tournaments will be on Saturday, June 1st in Carroll.

Regional softball starts July 1st, and district baseball begins July 2nd. In mid-July several students will make a trip to a Steubenville conference in Rochester, Minnesota.

Fall sports camps begin the week of August 1st, with official practices starting on August 8th. Then, before we know it, the calendar will say Tuesday, August 23rd, and it will be time for a new school year to begin.

That’s our final “Bear Facts” for this school year. Thanks to everyone who has been part of the show—reporting and announcing throughout the year. Thanks also to our faculty producer David Burrow, who edits everything together to make us sound our best.

Thanks also to KLGA for airing the show each week for the past thirty years, and thanks to all the advertisers who keep it on the air. We’ll be off for the summer, but we hope to be back at the end of August with more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.