Good morning! I'm Beth Haag!
I'm Jenni Krieps!
And I'm Andrea Cruise! Welcome to a special edition of the
'Bear Facts', the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan
High School.
Can you believe it?! A year ago the Golden Bear boys were
the joke of the North Central Conference, with an overall
record of one win and eighteen losses. Well, no one's
laughing now! The Bears are for real, and they're now the
district champions! They beat Manson/Northwest Webster
Tuesday to win their first district title since 1993. Then
they went on to play Saint Ansgar in the big substate game
last night.
We had to tape this week's 'Bear Facts' before the substate
game was decided. By now you know the outcome of that big
game, but we want to say that--one way or the other--we
couldn't be happier with the Bears. They've been the
underdogs all season long, but they've proven themselves
again and again--coming from behind and making key shots
when it counted. Coach Meister said that in all his years
of coaching he couldn't remember a bigger turn-around in a
team. Congratulations to the district champion Golden
Bears!
Another group of students was very successful this past
week. At the district individual speech contest last
Saturday, Garrigan earned twelve Division I (or
'excellent') ratings. Students earning I's include Cindy
Bormann in both Prose and Public Address, Katie Reising in
both Acting and Radio News Announcing, Jenni Krieps in both
Acting and Poetry, and Jenessa McGuire in both Storytelling
and Prose. Also receiving I's were Mark DeLange in Radio,
Carrie Kohlhaas in Poetry, Tiffany Meyer in Public Address,
and Julie Henkelvig in Storytelling. Garrigan also earned
four Division II (or 'good') ratungs. They went to Kristi
McGraine in Prose and Acting, Julie Henkelvig in
Storytelling, and Ruby Bode in Radio News Announcing.
The big story on everyone's mind this week is the Golden
Bear girls' return appearance in the state basketball
tournament. The girls have had an awesome year, going
undefeated through eighteen conference matches and four
post-season games They are presently rated second in the
state, and we hope they'll finish at least that high in the
tournament.
Fifteen girls have gotten in the record book for the Golden
Bears this season. At the core of this year's team are
seniors Jill Rosenmeyer and Darci Kohlhaas, and junior
Katie Vaske. All three girls lead in both scoring and
rebounding. Seniors Maggie Nelson and Katie Seiler and
sophomore Liz DeWaard have also scored over 100 points each
this season. Molly Nelson and Sarah Hall lead the team in
free-throw percentage, while Angie Froehlich has the top
percentage on three-pointers. Lisa Boekelman, Jenny
McAlpine, and Ruby Bode have been hustling and helping out
with rebounds all year long. It's been a team effort, and
rounding out the team are Katie Reding, Jenessa McGuire,
and KAtie Elbert. Good luck to all the Bears!
The girls play their opening game at State on Wednesday
afternoon at one o'clock. We'll have a big pep rally and
send-off Wednesday morning to start off the school day.
Then we'll ring the bell to dismiss asses, and we'll all
head down for a 'field trip' to cheer the girls on to
victory. If they win on Wednesday, the'll next play in the
semi-finals Friday afternoon at 2:30. Then there's the
game we're all crossing our fingers for--the 2A
championship next Saturday night.
The girls team is almost as remarkable a turn-around story
as the boys. It's not that many years ago that we started
playing any kind of girls' basketball at Garrigan. All
through the six-on-six years, the girls endured losing
seasons and lackluster crowds. Then the state switched to
five-on-five ball, and suddenly it was our turn to shine.
Ever since the switch, Garrigan has been on a role. With
the change in rules the game became more exciting, too, and
the crowds have been there all year long to cheer on the
Bears.
We had the biggest crowd in Garrigan girls' basketball
history last Friday for the substate game in Fort Dodge.
When warm-ups started there wasn't an empty seat on the
Garrigan side, but only a few seats were full across the
gym. The girls were especially impressed by all the fans
who came from Algona High, Sentral, North Kossuth, West
Bend, and all the other area schools. Thanks for cheering
us on to State!
The girls are all thrilled with the idea or returning to
the big barn in Des Moines. Katie Seiler said, 'It's
really nice to get there two years in a row,' and Maggie
Nelson commented, 'I didn't get to play last year, so I'm
excited about going down there again.' Sophomore Katie
Reding summed things up for everyone when she said, 'The
hard work really paid off!'
With our basketball theme this week, we're featuring
basketball fan Jamie Weydert in our Senior Spotlight.
Jamie is the son of Harlan and Julie Weydert of rural St.
Joe. He enjoys sports in general, and this winter he's
been the top scorer on the Attack Force intramural team.
Jamie will be off to college next fall, and we wish him the
very best of luck.
On the Garrigan calendar this week, tomorrow intramurals
continue. Monday girls' track practice starts. Also
Monday night is the Seton Education Fair, which was
postponed due to the boys' substate game.
Tuesday we'll have the Sacrament of Reconciliation at both
Garrigan and Seton. Then Wednesday morningwe'll have the
big pep rally and send-off for the Golden Bear girls.
The girls play Wednesday at 1pm, and hopefully they'll also
play Friday at 2:30. If they make it past then, the
championship game would be next Saturday night at six
o'clock.
That's the 'Bear Facts' for girls' state tournament week.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you in Des Moines to
cheer on the Bears!
March
8,
1997