THE BEAR FACTS
February 24, 2018

Good morning! I’m Lexi Berte!

 I’m Cailin Thilges!

 And I’m Megan Wadle! Welcome to a special episode of the “Bear Facts”, where we’re celebrating some success here at Bishop Garrigan High School.

The Bears are going to state! We say that literally every year in track, and almost annually in sports like football, golf, and track. It’s been a while since the Bears have been to state in girls basketball, though. In fact the oldest members of the team were in diapers when we made our last trip down to Des Moines, and most of the students at Garrigan weren’t even born. The Golden Bear girls last qualified for state in the year 2000. They’ qualified again in the year 2018, though, and they’ll be playing next Wednesday down at Wells-Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The girls had a bye in the first round of regionals. They beat West Bend Mallard 66 – 40 in Round 2 and then edged past Graettinger Terril—Ruthven Ayrshire 44 – 40 in Round 3. In the final round they faced Kinglsey Pierson, the #5 rated team in the state. The Bears were behind for most of the fourth quarter, but Jenna Boelter hit a big three at the buzzer to put the game into overtime. The Bears then took control, hitting lots of key free throws. They ended up beating Kingsley Pierson 73 – 67 to take the regional championship.


The Bears will face top-rated Springville, a team from just east of Cedar Rapids, in the opening round at state. They play Wednesday at 1:30pm. While we know it will be a tough game, we also know the Bears are capable of taking down tough teams. Jenna Boelter is one of the top point guards in Iowa, and teammate Kaylyn Meyers is one of the top freshmen in the state. Whitney Hovey, Gracie McGuire, Alisa Altman, Maddie Meister, Katie Noonan, and Emma Fogarty have been moving the ball well and scoring key shots all season.

One of the top stories on the team has been Caitlin Thilges, who came back from a serious injury to be a truly clutch player in playoffs. Other varsity players include seniors Megan Wadle, Livia Miller, and Emory Miller; sophomores Mackenzie Meister, Amanda Miller, and Emma Lichter, and freshman Gracie Elsbecker. Congratulations to all the Bears on winning the regional championship. Good luck at state to Coach Brandon Schwab and the girls basketball team!

The Golden Bear boys have also had a great playoff run. After a first-round bye, they beat Belmond Klemme and then St. Edmond. The district championship game was supposed to be Thursday night, but it was postponed due to weather. We had to record this week’s show before the Bears took on West Fork for the district title. The winner of that game is scheduled to play at Mason City High tonight in the substate game, though weather is also likely to affect that game. We’re crossing our fingers that this could be one of this could be the first time ever that two BGHS basketball teams go to state.

Last Saturday the Golden Bear math team competed down in Johnston. They ended up doing surprisingly well. Garrigan won the small school team round competition, and all five Golden Bears earned individual awards. Sam Trainer was the top senior in both the target and sprint rounds, while Jack Snyder took second place among freshmen in both those rounds. Aric Laubenthal, Joey Trainer, and Amanda Thilges also won individual honors. Congratulations, math team!

Bishop Garrigan was scheduled to host the district individual speech contest today. However because of bad weather, the contest has been postponed until Tuesday after school. We have also gotten permission to dispense with oral comments to speed things up and keep the contest moving. District contest should begin at 3:30 Tuesday afternoon.

2018 will be head coach Mary McCall’s last year working with BGHS speech. Among the students she’s working with this year are Caitlin Thilges in Prose and Musical Theatre, Sam Trainer in Improvisation, and Storytelling, John Zeimet and Sam Vaske in Literary Program, Gabe Trainer and Bryce Capesius in Prose, Logan Heying in Radio News Announcing, Jordan Hansen in Storytelling, and Ashlyn Harrington in Acting. Best wishes, speech!

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Caitlin Thilges. Here to tell you about her is Ben Degen.

When we asked Caitlin Thilges to list the activities she’s been in at Garrigan, she said “pretty much everything there is”. Caitlin is an all-season athlete who’s medaled at state in shot put and discus, and been a top player in softball, volleyball, and basketball. She’s earned all-state honors in both speech and choir; and she’s been active in band, drama, quiz bowl, math team, and Christian Leadership in Action. You’ve also heard her announcing many times here on the “Bear Facts”. Caitlin has challenged herself with lots of advanced classes in high school, and she’ll continue to do that in college. We wish her all the best in the future.

Thanks, . On our Golden Bear calendar this week, tonight is the boys substate game in Mason City. The make-up date for that game will most likely be Monday.

The danz squad spring show that was originally scheduled for last Friday has been postponed until April. However the dancers will also perform at the girls basketball tournament this coming week.
BBBBB: Wednesday the Garrigan girls will play in the state basketball tournament. They take on Springville at 1:30pm at Wells-Fargo Arena in Des Moines. There’s no school at Garrigan that day, our reward from the calendar drive last fall.

 If the girls win their first round at state, the semi-finals will be Friday at 1:30. We’ve got Stations of the Cross scheduled for that day as well. The 1-A state championship will be next Saturday at 7pm.

 That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in next week when we’ll have more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.