THE BEAR FACTS
February 23, 2019

Good morning! I’m Gabe Trainer!

I’m Logan Heying!

And I’m Laurel Degen! Thanks for tuning in to the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

While they closed the regular season with a loss, the Golden Bear boys basketball team has definitely heated things up in playoffs. They cruised past North Union last Friday, beating the Warriors by a score of 95-33. Then on Tuesday they faced West Hancock. Garrigan had a close game against the Eagles during the regular season, but in districts they dominated, beating West Hancock 76-38.

Throughout playoffs the whole Garrigan team has been playing strong. In addition to regular top scorers like T.J. Schnurr and Angelo Winkel, players like Cade Winkel, John Joyce, Marcus Plathe, Brad Capesius, Cameron Baade, Tristan Furgeson, John Capesius, Kyle Schaaf, and Andrew Arndorfer have really stepped it up in districts. Even deep bench players like Kellen Murphy and Kyphus Goche got lots of playing time and made a strong contribution in playoffs.

Throughout the district run, whenever one player was cold, someone else was there to get a rebound, steal the ball, or make a basket. The teamwork led the Bears to the district championship game Thursday night. We had to record this week’s show before that game was played. We know the Bears played a tough game, though, and we’re betting they’ll be in the substate match tonight.

The basketball cheerleaders have been busy all season long, and we’re hoping they’ll have some more games to cheer for as well. This year’s basketball spirit squad includes Caroline Bradley, Megan Besch, Madison Illg, Megan Bronk, Emma Thul, Layah DeLange, and Lauren Kenyon; as well as Jordan Hansen, Andrea Pacheco, Bailey Kollasch, Sam McIntire, Skye Waters, and Olivia Kajewski. Thanks to the cheerleaders for everything they do!

Garrigan is scheduled to host district individual speech contest today. The way the weather has been lately, we’re crossing our fingers that the contest actually comes off as scheduled and isn’t postponed until Tuesday. While there have been a lot of drops from every school, we should still have about 250 students performing at district contest. They’ll be coming from as far away as Storm Lake and Alta and also from nearby schools like Algona High, Humboldt, and North Union.

Garrigan has fourteen entries performing at contest. Mya Kemna, Abbi Heying, and Jordan Hansen will all be competing in Literary Program. Marguerite Fakler and Riley Rosenmeyer are entered in Storytelling, and Meredith Illg and Ava Eisenbarth will be presenting Poetry selections. Logan Heying and Noah Bronk will compete in Radio News Announcing; and Gabe Trainer, Joey Trainer, and Ashlyn Harrington are delivering Prose pieces. Bryce Capesius is entered in Expository Address, and Sam Vaske will present a Musical Theatre selection. Best wishes, speech!

Another big event this weekend is the state DECA conference. DECA is an organization for students interested in business and entrepreneurship, and this is the second year Garrigan will be competing at state. Senior John Meis; junior Cade Winkel; sophomores Reese Rosenmeyer, Anna Berke, Gracie Elsbecker, and Joe Meis; and freshmen Riley Rosenmeyer and Mya Kemna all placed at the regional DECA conference in Ft. Dodge last month, and they’re all looking forward to doing well at state. Good luck, DECA!

Next Monday eighteen Garrigan choir students will be participating in the Lewis and Clark Vocal Jazz Festival in Sioux City. Students in vocal jazz include Ashlyn Harrington, Amanda Miller, Megan Bronk, Jordan Hansen, Meredith Tigges, Emma Thul, Layah DeLange, and Madison Illg; as well as Bailey Kollasch, Eric Thul, Aidan Koob, Sam Vaske, Noah Bronk, Logan Heying, Gabe Trainer, Joe Trainer, Aric Laubenthal, and Bryce Capesius.

 Last Saturday five Garrigan math students went over to Waverly for an International Math League competition. Most of the awards at the contest went to big schools like Iowa City West and Linn—Mar, however two Golden Bears ended up placing in different events. Gabe Trainer finished in third place among seniors in the Sprint Round, and Aric Laubenthal was the third place sophomore in the Target Round. Congratulations to them!

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Madison Illg.

Madison is a second generation Garrigan student, since her dad was a Golden Bear back in the ‘80s. This Algona native is a part of both the football and basketball cheer squads. She has won awards in choir and speech, and she’s also active in drama. Madison will be off to college next fall, and we wish her all the best in the future.

Thanks, Laurel! On our Golden Bear calendar today there’s district speech contest at Garrigan, and tonight at 7:00 there’s the boys basketball substate game at Clear Lake.

The state DECA conference is Sunday in Des Moines. Then on Monday there’s the vocal jazz festival in Sioux City. Wednesday we’ll have parish busing at Garrigan because the Algona Community Schools aren’t in session.

There’s a student mass on Wednesday morning. Friday we’ll see the “I Have a Dream” play at the parish activity center at St. Cecelia, and there’s a speaker on chastity that afternoon. Then next Saturday Garrigan will host a junior high quiz bowl tournament.

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