The Bear Facts
August 30, 2014
Good morning! I’m Mark Fakler!
I’m Tony Kolalsch!
And I’m Emiy Marlow! Thanks for tuning in to the “Bear Facts”, your weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.
The construction has started. We broke ground a week and a half ago, and now construction crews are clearing trees from the area where the new adidtion will be going up at Garrigan. Work will be continuing as long as weather permits this fall, and it will continue next spring and summer. The new gym, offices, and classrooms should be ready to go on August 1, 2015—in time to start next school year.
Because of the construction, there are some changes that visitors to our school need to know about. The biggest one will affect admission to volleyball games this fall. The main gym lobby doors won’t be accessible, so at games the entrance will be by the boys locker room and coaches’ office—the door that students use during the school day. The concession stand will also be temporarily moving, and there will be no parking on the drive in front of the gym until the construction is completed.
The volleyball team begins their season today with a tournament at St. Ed’s. Next Tuesday they’ll face Mason City Newman in their first home match. The girls will be the first Golden Bear team to compete in the newly enlarged North Iowa Conference. While Bishop Garrigan will still be one of the smallest schools in their conference, the schools are much closer in size than they were in the old North Central Conference. We’re looking forward to good, competitive play.
This year’s volleyball team includes seven returning seniors: Kaitlyn Fogarty, Betty Straub, Emily Marlow, Paige Berte, Taylor Frideres, Patricia Brandt, and Cassidy Vitzthum. Other veterans include Johanna Vaske, Carolyn Baxter, Avriel Miller, Nicole Zeimet, Olivia Vaske, Emily Baumann, Gracie Behr, Taylor Becker, Courtney Kirsch, Ciera Hall, Megan Brown, Miranda Book, Courtney Noonan, and Sam Bormann. Good luck to Coach Dave Schnurr and the volleyball team!
The Golden Bear football team began their season last night against traditional rival St. Edmond. Three-year starting quarterback Reece Wadle returns to lead this year’s team, as does two-year captain and runningback Ben Vaske. Other seniors on the squad include Kirk Kenyon, Andrew Miller, Carter Hall, Jake Kayser, and Nick Kayser. Juniors Zac Kibby, Cameron Langerman, Logan Rosenmeyer, and Landen Studer all got good experience last year and will be joining the seniors at the core of this year’s team.
Other returning veterans include Will Kellner, Logan Besch, Devin Degen, James Quinlin, and Jedd Magill. The sophomores playing for the Golden Bears inlcude Gibson Behr, Donovan Berte, Grant Buscherfeld, Patrick Marlow, Chase Winkel, Joel Vaske, Nick Mergen, Andrew Thilges, Andrew Meister, and Levi Capesius. Good luck all season long to Coach Marty Wadle and the football team!
The cross-country team brought home five medals from their first meet of the season last Tuesday in Spencer. Emily Riesenberg led for most of the race, before falling back to take fifth place overall. Kelsey Hovey finished in 17th place for the girls. On the boys side Tony Kollasch, Zach Kollasch, and Tyler Schnurr all finished in the top twenty-five.
This year’s cross-country team also includes seniors Mark Fakler, Morgan Frideres, Taylor Illg, and Jess Marlow; junior Cady Steinman; sophomores Ben Fogarty and Josh Hamilton; and freshmen Alexis Berte, Trevor Darling, and Livia Miller. Good luck to Coach Daryl Kohlhaas and both the boys and girls in cross-country!
Last Monday the senior class nominated the 2014 Homecoming royal court. It was a very close contest, but we’re pleased to announce the winners. The queen candidates for 2014 are Patricia Brandt, Morgan Frideres, Taylor Frideres, Emily Marlow, and Betty Straub; and this year’s king candidates are Nick Kayser, Andrew Miller, Tyler Schnurr, Ben Vaske, and Reece Wadle. Homecoming will be September 22 – 26. Congratulations to all the royal court!
Yesterday we began the annual Bishop Garrigan calendar drive. This is our biggest fundraising activity of the year, with all the profits going to our transportation budget. Just last year we bought a Chevy Traverse to help transport students to school activities, and we’ve updated buses and suburbans over the years thanks to the calendar drive.
In addition to providing funds for the school, the calendar drive is also a raffle that gives every buyer 365 opportunities to win. The top prize is $500, and people often win multiple prizes of $35 or $50. You can see any high school or junior high student to buy a calendar and help support the school.
Last week we looked at one of our student council co-presidents in our Senior Spotlight, and this week we’re looking at the other one: Andrew Miller. Here to tell you about Andrew is Paige Berte.
Andrew Miller, who pretty much everyone calls “Candle”, is an Algona native who’s active in lots of different activities. He plays sports year-round—including football, basketball, track and field, and baseball. He’s also active in band, National Honor Society, and Christian Leadership in Action. Andrew is also really creative, and he enjoys having fun with all kinds of computer technology. Andrew was class co-president for three straight years, and last year he was elected student body co-president. He’ll be off to college next year, and we wish him all the best in the future.
On our Golden Bear calendar, there’s volleyball today at Ft. Dodge St. Edmond. Next Monday there’s no school because of the Labor Day holiday. Tuesday is the first turn-in day for the calendar drive.
Tuesday night the volleyball team hosts Mason City Newman. That night the cross-country team runs in the Newman meet at the west campus of Mercy Hospital in Mason City. Also on Tuesday there’s JV football at Garner.
We’ll have a student mass on Wednesday. Then next Friday the football team hosts Pocahontas. The cross-country team will serve root beer floats at the game.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to join us again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School!