Good morning! I'm Stephanie Hilbert!
I'm Ashley Arndorfer!
And I'm Rebecca McGuire! Welcome back to the "Bear
Facts"! Today we start our tenth year on KLGA, bringing you all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
It was quite a summer for many of our recent BGHS graduates. Some of the best news was for Angie Kohlhaas. Angie, who achieved a perfect 1600 on the SAT, was named a Presidential scholar. She went to Washington, D.C. over the summer, where she officially received her award from President Bush.
Two other big honorees in the Class of 2001 were Hank Greer and Ben Lickteig. Hank was selected to represent the north team in the annual Shrine Bowl football game. Even though the north team ended up losing, I was a great honor for Hank to participate. Ben helped lead the Iowa Lakes regional team to the state championship in American Legion baseball. Sophomore Aaron O'Kane also played on the state championship team. Congratulations to them!
There's not much question, though, that the biggest news among our recent graduates involved Brad Nelson. Almost every boy in America dreams of playing professional baseball. Unlike most people, though, Brad is living that dream. On June 5 he was named the
Milwaukee Brewers' fourth round draft pick. While he was negotiating a contract, Brad spent most of the summer playing for the Kansas City Monarchs, a team made up of high school all-stars from around the Midwest who won the national championship in AAU baseball. Brad officially signed with the Brewers at the end of July, and he played for about a month in the
Arizona Rookie League.
Rookie league baseball isn't exactly glamorous. In Phoenix Brad lived at a motel, got up hours before sunrise, and played games before crowds that were smaller than he saw at high school games. He's made his start, though, and he's been playing excellent baseball. Brad led the Arizona Brewers by batting over .300, and this week he was called up to the
Utah Raptors who are chasing the pennant in the Pioneer League. It's a long way from rookie ball to the majors, but we're all looking forward to seeing a former Golden Bear playing in "the show". Good luck, Brad!
With Brad gone for the summer, a lot of opponents thought this might be a rebuilding year for Golden Bear baseball. They thought wrong! The team might not have had the power of the "big bat Bears" who set state and national records for slugging two years ago, but they had everything they needed to win. The Bears won their fifth North Central Conference championship, and eight Golden Bears won all-conference honors. 2001 Graduates Ben Lickteig, and Chase Johnson, and senior Jeff Vaske were first-team all conference, while Scott McGuie and Josh Hanig were second-team. Honorable mentions went to recent graduate Steven Courtney, as well as senior Mark Meister and sophomore Aaron O'Kane.
Ben Lickteig and Scott McGuire were the team MVPs for 2001. Steven Courtney and John Steier received the Golden Bear pride award, while Josh Hanig and Tyler Trenary were named most-improved players. Jeff Vaske and Aaron O'Kane shared the offensive honors, while Chase Johnson and Mark Meister were the top defensive players. Congratulations to Coaches Gene and Rob Meister and the conference-champion baseball team!
It was a re-building year for the softball team, but even so they surpassed everyone's expectations. Their season included big wins over Mason City Newman, Ft. Dodge St. Edmond, West Bend Mallard, North Iowa, and Pocahontas. The girls defeated Woden Crystal Lake Titonka in their first play-off game, before falling to Lake Mills. Kelly Kunkel, Molly Meyer, Sara Reding, and Amanda Gisch received All-Conference selections. Amanda got the "Gold Glove" award, while Kelly was named "Big Stick". Sara won the "Hustle" award, and Molly was "Most Valuable Player". Chelsie Wood and Nellie Fowler were the most improved softball players, and Janel Richter won the "Loud Mouth" pride award for supporting her team most vocally.
Each year we've begun our Senior Spotlight by saluting our student leaders. Today we're shining our spotlight on student council co-presidents Andy Kardoes and Andy Meyer. Here's
Rebecca to tell you all about them.
Andy Kardoes was named a pre-season all-state selection in football. This is his second year as starting quarterback, and everyone is expecting a great year from him on the field. Andy likes all sports. He plans to be out for basketball this year, and last year he was an intramural all-star. Congratulations to Andy Kardoes, the first of our student council co-presidents for 2001.
Andy Meyer is a Whittemore native who is also an outstanding football player. Andy is excels in golf, and he enjoys other sports like basketball. Like Andy Kardoes, Andy Meyer will be off to college next year. We wish both of our presidents the very best of luck.
Thanks, Rebecca! On this week's Golden Bear calendar today the football cheerleaders are sponsoring a car wash. They'll be at Algona Marine and Sport from 10am to 2pm, tidying up those dirty cars.
Next Tuesday fall sports begin. The volleyball team plays at Estherville, and the cross-country team will be running at Mason City Newman.
Next week we'll be having try-outs for the BGHS fall musical. This year the music and drama departments are presenting "Fiddler on the Roof", and we wish everyone who is trying out good luck.
Friday the annual Bishop Garrigan calendar drive begins. Each $25 calendar offers you 365 chances to earn cash prizes, so be sure to get yours soon.
We'll dismiss early Friday for the Labor Day holiday weekend. Then Saturday night the football team opens their season by playing St. Edmond at Dodger Stadium in Ft. Dodge.
That's our first "Bear Facts" for this year. Thanks for listening, and be sure to join us every week, when we bring you the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
