Good morning! I’m Cassidy Vitzthum!
I’m Zac Kibby!
And I’m Devin Degen! Welcome to our next to last “Bear Facts” for this school year. Thanks for joining us for the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
Except for the very last finals, the school year is over. This is still a very busy weekend for the Golden Bears, though. Probably the biggest event is the state track meet. We told you last week that the Garrigan boys had won the district championship, but we found out shortly after recording that show that the Bears had qualified fifteen events for state. That’s the most in school history, and the most of any school in any class in our area.
The Golden Bear boys are competing at state in five different relays: the shuttle hurdle, and the 4 x 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400, and 4 x 800. Those relays include Will Kellner, Zach Kollasch, Patrick Marlow, Tony Kollasch, Tyler Schnurr; as well as Logan Rosenmeyer, Brayton Loss, Chris Loss, Ben Vaske, Carter Hall, and Gibson Behr.
Gibson Behr also qualified for state in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, while Tony Kollasch qualified in the 800- and 1600-meter runs. Brayton Loss went to state in the long jump, Tyler Schnurr was a state qualifier in the 400 hurdles, Christian Matthews qualified in the long jump, and Zac Kibby in the long jump. The final state qualifiers were Corey Weydert and Cameron Langerman. Both of them went to state in the shot put.
The girls also have a huge delegation at the state track meet, with eight events participating. The Golden Bears are taking four relays to Des Moines: The 4 x 200, 4 x 400, 4 x 800, and the sprint medley. Relay runners include Olivia Vaske, Morgan Frideres, Emily Reisenberg, Cassidy Vizthum, Taylor Frideres, and Johanna Vaske; plus Aisha Miller, Nicole Behr, Vanessa Dodds, and Gracie Behr. Nicole Behr also qualified individually for state in the 100- and 200- meter dashes. Emily Riesenberg was a state qualifier in the 1500-meter run, and Johanna Vaske went to state in the high jump. Good luck to all the Golden Bear sate runners!
The other big event this weekend is national quiz bowl. Levi Bernhard, Jake Hamilton, Taylor Illg, Hannah Bernhard, and Devin Degen are down in New Orleans for the 2014 National Academic Championships. The Bears are playing their first game right now as this show airs. They’re taking on a team from El Paso, Texas. Tomorrow they will play five other games, against teams from places like White Plains, New York and Gadsden, Alabama. We’ll let you know how things turn out on next week’s “Bear Facts”.
The Golden Bear golf teams have been doing great in playoffs. Last week the Bishop Garrigan boys won their sectional meet by 19 strokes over Belmond—Klemme. The team advanced to the district meet, and Jess Marlow, Michael Berke, Donovan Berte, and Zach Boelter all qualified for districts as individuals. Then Monday the conference champion Garrigan girls got a 14-stroke win over Rockford Rudd Marble Rock in their regional opener. The team advanced to the second round, as did individuals Alexa Capesius and Chloe Garman. Good luck in the rest of playoffs, golfers!
Monday is Memorial Day, and the holiday marks the opening of baseball season for the Golden Bears. As always, the Bears have a busy season, with thirty-three varsity games and two tournaments scheduled in less than two months between now and playoffs. The Bears will face all their old North Central Conference rivals, plus teams in the new Top of Iowa Conference that Garrigan is joining this coming year.
There are no seniors on this year’s Golden Bear baseball team. At the core of the team are juniors Andrew Miller, Reece Wadle, Tyler Schnurr, and Ben Vaske; as well as sophomores Zac Kibby and Zach Boelter. Other sophomores in baseball include Logan Besch, Devin Degen, Will Kellner, Andrew Lallier, Alex McGuire, and James Quinlin. Rounding out the team are freshmen Andrew Meister, Grant Buscherfeld, Chase Hatten, Ryan Kenyon, Ben Fogarty, James Burns, and Joel Vaske. Good luck all summer to the baseball team!
The softball team starts play next Tuesday, and they also have a busy season. Returning seniors on this year’s squad are Kristin Condoleon, Kara Eischen, and Taylor Hovey. Experienced juniors include Betty Straub, Kaitlyn Fogarty, and Betty Straub. Other key players include sophomores Kelsey Hovey, Avriel Miller, and Johanna Vaske. Rounding out the team are sophomores Carolyn Baxter, Nicole Zeimet, LeeAnn Eischen, and Cady Steinman; and also freshmen Gracie Behr, Sam Bormann, Megan Brown, Ciera Hall, and Courtney Kirsch. Good luck, softball!
On our Golden Bear calendar, the quiz bowl team begins play at nationals down in New Orleans this morning. Also today the state track meet wraps up at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
National quiz bowl continues tomorrow. Then on Monday the Garrigan band plays for the Memorial Day festivities in Whittemore. That night baseball season begins, with the Bears traveling to Estherville for a doubleheader.
Tuesday we’ll finish up semester tests. The softball team travels to St. Ed’s that night, while the baseball team plays at Emmetsburg. There’s also girls regional golf that night.
Wednesday the quiz bowl team returns from nationals. That night there’s softball at Algona High, while the baseball team hosts North Iowa. Thursday the baseball team hosts North Union, while softball travels to Pocahontas.
BBBBB: Friday the boys state golf meet begins. There’s also state target shooting that day in Cedar Falls. That night the Bears host Clarion—Goldfield in both baseball and softball.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Next week we’ll have a special show that our quiz bowl team will record on their trip to New Orleans. So be sure to join us then when they wrap up the year here at Bishop Garrigan High School.
