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Lauren Eftink signs to join super senior sibling at SEMO track
After months of speculation, Notre Dame senior runner Lauren Eftink officially signed her letter of intent to run collegiately at Southeast Missouri State on Friday, March 1, at Notre Dame High School.
Eftink was offered to a handful of colleges including Western Kentucky and St. Louis, but the comfort of remaining home drew her to the Redhawks.
“At the end of the day, when I was making my final decision, it just came to I felt at home in SEMO,” Eftink said. “It just felt right and I was happy here and I knew I could be my happiest here and they had everything that I wanted.”
She will be on the same team as her older brother, Clayton Eftink, who despite being at SEMO since 2020, still has two years of eligibility left after this year due to the free COVID year and injury-related redshirts.
“It's so cool,” Eftink said. “We've never been on a team together. We missed high school by one year. So it's gonna be cool to go to the same school as him and we're gonna also be on the same team will be awesome, kind of have big brother watch out for me and help me and guide me.”
Four years ago, the likelihood of the Eftink siblings didn’t seem possible, but Clayton Eftink said he’s fortunate to be able to finish his running career with his younger sister alongside him.
“It means the world to me,” he said. “We weren’t able to be teammates in high school and I wasn’t planning necessarily to run in college. I sort of found myself in a position where I was able to run, which was fantastic.”
Eftink finished her final cross-country season in second place at the Class 3 State Championship this past fall with a time of 18 minutes, 29.7 seconds, which broke the Notre Dame school record in the 5K.
Eftink qualified for the state championships in all four years and was an all-state medalist three times. She ran in Class 4 prior to this year and took 11th place as a junior and 22nd overall in her sophomore year to earn all-state. With every home meet she competed in, her brother was there as her biggest supporter.
“Seeing Lauren have some success and have a lot of fun with the sport has been really cool,” Clayton said.
Eftink also holds the school records in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs with times of 5:09.11 and 11:20.65, respectively. She is a three-time Class 4 All-State medalist (twice in the 1600; and once in the 3200).
They share a place on the Notre Dame record board hung on the walls of the gym. Now they share a place on the SEMO roster.
“I’m really excited to be teammates,” Clayton said. “We’re going to be out on the track dying during workouts together, but it’ll be a lot of fun doing it together. I’ll kind of get to look over at her during races here cheering me on and vice versa, so that’s what I’m really looking forward to.”
As much as Clayton wanted Lauren to come to SEMO, and the recruiting process seemed like four years in the making, the decision was hers alone.
“He kept pretty well out of it,” Eftink said. “He really wanted it to be my decision, which I really thank him for that.”
The SEMO women’s track & field team is coming off its second straight indoor Ohio Valley Conference championship. Head coach Eric Crumpecker was named Women's Coach of the Year. Having a successful coaching staff was paramount to bringing both Eftinks to SEMO.
“I think that one of the things that was super important was finding a coach that believes in you and saw success in your future,” Clayton said. “We definitely found that with [Crumpecker]. He sat her down and was like, this is where we want you to be in a few years and we think you can be, and this is the type of program that you're joining with all the success that we've had so far.”
Eftink will join fellow former Bulldogs Greg Dennis and Haley Smith. The Notre Dame track program had three Division-I signings last year; Cole Bruenderman (Lindenwood), Jenna Givens (Saint Louis), and Dennis (SEMO). Recent Notre Dame track alums include Evan Bruenderman jumping at St. Louis, Blake Morris running distance at Missouri, Allie Pujol competing at the College of Charleston for cross country, and Carly Pujol at Arkansas State for pole vault.
“It's really been an honor and a blessing to be here,” Eftink said. “They have such a good program here and they know how to get their athletes ready for the next level which is really cool and awesome because I've had so many [teammates] that have gone on to do great things. So it's kind of cool to be able to follow in their footsteps.”
Eftink is a two-time SEMO Conference Champion in cross country and was named the SEMO Conference Most Valuable Track Performer last season as a junior. She won the Semoball Award in both girls' cross county and track last year and is in prime position to repeat this year as well.
With her future secured, Eftink said the only thing left for her to chase this spring is “faster times.”
“You’re always chasing faster times,” Eftink said. “I’m excited to get in some really cool races and see what I can do again.”
The Notre Dame track team will kick off the season on March 16 by hosting the Frozen Invite.