THE BEAR FACTS
October 22, 2022


 Good morning! I’m Eva Snyder!

 I’m Avery Berte!

 And I’m Joey Doerning! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

 On to state! Garrigan senior Gavin Swift has qualified to run at the state cross-country meet. He finished the race at the district meet in Manly in a time of 17 minutes, 27.9 seconds—edging out runners from Manson Northwest Webster, St. Edmond, and North Union to take eighth place overall. The top ten runners qualify for state, and we’re proud to say Gavin made the cut.

 The boys Class 1-A race will be Friday morning at 11:15. State cross-country is run at the Lakeside Golf Course in Kennedy Park, just north of the Ft. Dodge Airport. Gavin’s time is right in the middle of the qualifiers from eight sites around the state. We wish him all the best as he runs at state next Friday. Good luck, Gavin!

 Today four Garrigan students are over in LeMars, where they’re auditioning for the All-State Choir. Isabella Waechter, Lauren Swift, Benjy Trainer, and Nate Bronk. Of this group, Benjy is an all-state veteran, having been selected two years ago when he was a freshman. However the all-state concert was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID, so this is the first time he would be able to show his talents off at all-state.

 Students have been preparing a wide variety of songs. These include psalms that are sung in Hebrew and German, a Hindustani song called “Tuttarana”, traditional versions of “America the Beautiful” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, and pieces entitled “Crucifixion”, and “Masque of Angels”. There’s also a secret piece that will be handed out today, which the auditioners will have to sing without preparation.

 LeMars is one of six sites around the state where all-state auditions are being held. Around 400 vocalists will be at the northwest Iowa audition site, representing schools of all sizes. Students audition individually, and the top singers will be called back for further evaluation. Only 25 students in each vocal range will be accepted for all-state.

 Also today is the district DECA competition. DECA is a nationwide organization that prepares future leaders and entrepreneurs for a wide range of business-related careers. Bishop Garrigan is one of the smallest schools to have a DECA program, and the group has been very successful. Today they’re going to Gilbert to compete with presentations in many different fields.

 Thadd Kollasch and Sam Greteman are competing in Sports and Entertainment Management. Violet Bode and Ella Schaaf are an Entrepreneurship team, and so are Brendan Plathe and Avery Lichter. There are also two Travel and Tourism teams. One features Daniel Meis and Ava Hough, and the other has Reece Kemna and Emmi Bartolo.
 

    There are several individual competitors, too. In Principles of Business Management Sacha Alesch, Ava Roethler, and Zoe Montag will be competing. Haley Nemmers and Zach Warren are entered in Restaurant and Food Service Management. Hailee Reutzel and Molly Peterson are in Apparel and Accessories Marketing; and Aubrey Meyer and Brooke Ludwig are part of the Human Resource Management competition. Good luck at district, DECA!

 Last weekend Bishop Garrigan began the quiz bowl season by hosting their thirty-second invitational tournament. It was a very good day for the Bears. After preliminary competition, four of Garrigan’s five teams were among the top sixteen that advanced to playoffs. The team of Avery Berte, Eva Snyder, Gavin Swift, and Garrett Heying did especially well, finishing in fourth place overall. Congratulations, quiz bowl!

 There’s more quiz bowl action coming up. Just two weeks from now Bishop Garrigan will host the Top of Iowa Conference tournament, and the Bears are hoping to win back the traveling trophy for conference champions. On November 12 they’ll be playing at Algona High, and there’s a tournament down in Waukee November 19. At the end of November the Bears will compete in the online Knowledge Master contest. Good luck in the coming tournaments, quiz bowl!

 The Golden Bear volleyball team was both busy and successful this past week. They began regional playoffs on Monday by breezing past Harris—Lake Park in three straight sets. Their match against George—Little Rock on Wednesday was tougher, but the Bears rallied to beat the Mustangs in five. Bishop Garrigan now advances to the regional semifinal. They’ll be traveling on Monday for a rematch with #6-ranked Newell—Fonda. It will be a tough match, but we know the Bears will give it everything they’ve got. Good luck, volleyball!

 Just two weeks from now the Garrigan drama and music departments will present the 2022 fall musical, The Wizard of Oz. You can see Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and of course Toto. The dates are November 4 and 5. Tickets are just $10 for adults, and they’re included for free with a membership in DARTS, the organization that supports fine arts activities at BGHS.

 Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Andrew Fogarty. Here to tell you about him is Drew Casey.

 Drew Fogarty keeps busy all year long as part of the football, basketball, track, and baseball teams. When he’s not in class or on the field, you just might catch him juggling. Next year Drew is looking at attending DMACC, and he’d like a career as an electrician. We wish Drew all the best both this year and in the future.

 Thanks, Drew. On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s all-state music auditions today over in LeMars. Also today the DECA team is at district contest down in Gilbert.

 The second quarter of the school year begins on Monday. The regional volleyball semifinals will be Monday night, with the Bears playing at Newell—Fonda.

 We’ll have mass Tuesday morning, and there’s a swim meet at Carroll that night. The volleyball regional championship is Wednesday night, and the state cross-country meet is Friday in Ft. Dodge.

 That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to catch the show again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.