Good morning! I'm Matt Courtney!
And I'm Maria Erpelding! Welcome once again to the "Bear Facts", KLGA's weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Playing in the North Central Conference can sometimes get frustrating for a school like Garrigan. The season is filled with long bus rides to places like Iowa Falls and Hampton, and there are sometimes a lot of tough losses to schools twice our size. That tough conference season can be a benefit when it comes to play-offs, though, and those benefits were definitely clear when the Golden Bear girls played in their district opener last Wednesday. While on paper West Hancock had a much better record than Garrigan, they didn't play in nearly as tough of a conference. The Bears were used to tough games, and they gave Britt all they wanted and more. Garrigan beat West Hancock 42 - 38, and tonight they'll play Clarion for the district championship. Good luck all through play-offs to the Golden Bear girls!
The boys basketball team also knows the struggles and benefits of playing in the North Central Conference. They almost won this year's conference championship, but their title chances became remote after a heartbreaking loss to Iowa Falls last Tuesday. It would have been nice, but a conference championship was not the boys' ultimate goal. At practice last week signs on the gym doors read "4 more wins". That's what separates the boys from their real goal, making it to state. They're hoping that a season of close conference games will help them dominate in play-offs. The boys open district action Monday night at 6:30, when they play Southern Cal at Manson. Good luck to the basketball teams!
Seven Garrigan students are in Ames today for the Iowa High School Speech Association Large-Group All-State Festival. The one-cat play The Last Touchy-Feely Drama on the American Stage performs at 10:40 this morning. Rosalind Kirsch will be filling in for Keshar Nackarni in one of the lead roles. She'll star together with Jeff Hellman, John Kohlhaas, Eric Cassmann, and David Murphy. Then at 2:10 this afternoon Steven Kellner and Autumn Thompson will present their ensemble acting selection "Sure Thing". Congratulations and best wishes to these all-state speech performers!
All-state marks the end of the group speech season, but individual speech is now in full swing. Next weekend Garrigan will host the district individual contest, and we'll have twenty-one entries at our home event. Sarah Schmitt, Rosalind Kirsch, Nicole Elbert, Noah Devine, and Gavin Freking will all compete in Storytelling; John Kohlhaas and Jeff Hellman are in Radio News Announcing; and Rachel Foth, Amber Golwitzer, and Amanda Golwitzer are reading Prose selections. Autumn Thompson will present a Public Address; Keshar Nadkarni, Steven Kellner, Rachel McGuire, and Nancy Syharath will read Poetry pieces; Amber Golwitzer will present a Literary Program; and Eric Cassmann and Ashley Waller will compete in Acting. Steven Kellner and Brooke Myers will present After-Dinner speeches, and David Murphy rounds out the competitors by competing in Improvisation.
This past week was National FFA Week. Fifteen Garrigan students are active in the Algona FFA chapter. Seniors Tony Hilbert, Mark Kohlhaas, Mark Steier, Jerry Kohlhaas, and Josh Roethler are long-time members. Other FFA participants include juniors David Laubenthal, Grant Smith, Ben Kramer, and Mat Kirsch; sophomores Brian Marso, Pete Bormann, and Kyle Frideres; and freshmen Alicia Schakelford, Mark Laubenthal, and Alex Bormann. Congratulations to all the FFA members on their achievements!
Our senior spotlight this week shines on Lindsey Eischen. Here with the scoop on her is Jason Lallier.
Lindsey Eischen is probably best known as a member of the award-winning BGHS danz squad. She'll be headed to Anaheim this spring to compete with the danz squad at nationals. Lindsey is also in show choir and a capella choir, and she was a football cheerleader last fall. Her academic efforts have earned her a place in the National Honor Society. Lindsey will be off to college next fall, and we wish her all the best.
Thanks, Jason! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there's the All-State Speech Festival today in Ames. Then tonight the girls basketball team plays at Clarion for the district championship.
Tomorrow intramural basketball continues. Then Monday night boys basketball play-offs start, with the Bears playing Southern Cal at Manson.
Girls basketball regionals begin Tuesday night. If the Bears make it past district, they'll be playing at Garner.
Wednesday Garrigan's top math students will be taking the American High School Math Exam, a competitive test that is given to the top students all over America. That night the second round of boys districts will be at Manson.
Next Friday and Saturday there's girls regional basketball, and on Saturday Garrigan will be hosting the district individual speech contest.
That's the "Bear Facts" for February. Thanks for listening, and be sure to join us again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
