APRIL 2006

sports
Theresa Semann (left)
poses with Channel 7
personalities (above)
after being named
Athlete of the Week.
named to the All-State All-Academic Team.
This wasn’t the first time Semann made waves
in her first season in a running sport. She went out
for the L’Anse Creuse girls track team last spring.
Besides scoring the most points at meets, she was
named the squad’s MVP.
L’Anse Creuse girls track coach Joyce
Christmann, Gary Christmann’s wife, says
Semann has a shot at breaking the school records
in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs this season.
“Plus, Teresa is one of our captains,” Joyce
Christmann said. “She’s always upbeat, a great
teammate, and she sets a wonderful example for
the other girls.”
running on excellence
Teresa Semann impresses on and off the track
Teresa Semann loves to run. It’s not just a
passion, but part of her lifestyle.
So it wasn’t too surprising when the
Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse High senior
decided to join the school’s girls cross country
team last fall after three successful years of playing
tennis for the Lancers.
What did open a lot of eyes were Semann’s
accomplishments. She earned All-Macomb County
honors for her performance at the county meet. She
won the Macomb Area Conference Blue Division
dual meet and league meet championships. She
qualified for the Division 1 state meet by finishing
13th in the regionals, then placed 73rd of 238 runners
at the state race. Her 19:18.9 clocking at
Michigan International Speedway broke Kathy
Shacklett’s 23-year-old school record of 19:20.
BY STEVE STEIN
“Teresa didn’t want to just go to the state meet.
Because she’s so focused and goal-oriented, she wanted
to have a goal there,” said L’Anse Creuse girls cross
country coach Gary Christmann. “I told her that if
she went after the school record, she’d place pretty
high, too, so she set her sights on doing that.”
Semann was determined to break the record.
“Teresa finished strong. She wiped out runner
after runner as she neared the finish line,”
Christmann said.
“I knew I was close to the record, so I gave it
everything I had,” Semann said.
Owning the L’Anse Creuse girls cross country
record is quite an accomplishment because the team
hasn’t had a losing season since it was formed in 1979.
Thanks to her state meet finish and 4.119 grade
point average — tops in her class — Semann was
TOPS IN HER CLASS
Semann also sets a good example for high school
students across the metropolitan area. She was a
recent Channel 7 McDonald’s Scholar Athlete of
the Week, with the segment airing February 11.
The 18-year-old Harrison Township resident
has maintained her perfect GPA despite participating
in five sports during her four years at L’Anse
Creuse. She played soccer and volleyball as a freshman
and sophomore, earning all-county honors in
soccer as a sophomore.
“I’ve always been able to manage my time well,”
she said. “I get done what has to get done.”
Semann’s mother Pam is a physical therapist.
Her father George is a pharmaceutical sales representative.
Her sister Angela, 20, a sophomore at
U-M who also wants to be a nurse, ran track for
L’Anse Creuse in her senior year. She also played
tennis for the school.
Semann was recently accepted to the
University of Michigan, where she’ll study to be a
nurse. “There will always be a job for me in nursing,
and I like caring for people and talking to people,”
she said. “I want to make a difference in people’s
lives.”
Morin Yousif contributed to this article.
44 CHALDEAN NEWS APRIL 2006