Lauren Eftink goes out with a bang with Semoball Award

Lauren Eftink of Notre Dame, right, accepts the Girls Cross Country Athlete of the Year award from keynote speaker Brian Jordan, left, at the Semoball Awards, presented by Mercy, on July 14, 2024.

Bailey Bagot ~ Silver Landing Photography

For the second year in a row, Notre Dame cross-country and track and field athlete Lauren Eftink took home the Semoball Girls Cross Country Athlete of the Year award, adding to three total including her Semoball Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year award in 2023.

Eftink won the award on Friday night at the 11th annual Semoball Awards at La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau. Eftink said it was a humbling feeling to be able to win the award for a second consecutive year.

“Winning it last year was crazy and to win it again it’s just a big blessing,” Eftink said.

Mercy is the presenting sponsor of the Semoball Awards, the area’s premier awards show recognizing student-athletes and coaches in Southeast Missouri.

Eftink was nominated for and won the award by finishing in 2nd place at the 2023 Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 3 State Championships which earned her an All-State medal and earned the Bulldogs 10th place as a team. Eftink also leaves Notre Dame with possession of the 5,000-meter cross-country race record at 18:29.7 she set in 2023.

Eftink was also nominated for the Semoball Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year award after her efforts in the spring. Eftink won 1st place in the 3,200-meter run and 3rd place in the 800-meter run at the 2024 MSHSAA Class 3 State Championships, while finishing third and breaking her own Notre Dame school record in the 1,600-meter run in the same event. Eftink finished her Notre Dame track and field career with records in the 1,500-meter run, 1,600-meter run, the mile, and the 3,200-meter run.

Eftink signed with Southeast Missouri State University to run track for the Redhawks where she will join her older brother Clayton Eftink on the SEMO roster.

“I’m super excited to go to SEMO,” Eftink said. “I love the team and getting to join my brother, there’s nothing like it. It’s so cool to do that.”