Notre Dame’s Lauren Eftink outpacing the competition

Notre Dame track and field athlete Lauren Eftink made quite the splash at the SEMO Conference Meet last weekend and walked away with four first-place medals.

The junior took home the gold in the 800-meter run, the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run while also helping the Bulldogs finish the 4x400 relay in first place.

Notre Dame distance coach Richard Bohn said he and Lauren both had high expectations coming into this spring.

“I was excited to see what she could do this spring and she's even exceeded what I hoped she could get to this point,” Bohn said. “She has worked really hard in the offseason to get to where she is and I know she's very motivated.”

Eftink clocked in two top-ten finishes at the 2022 MSHSAA Class 4 State Championships in the 1600m and 3200m. She was named All-State in the 1600m and barely missed out on All-State for the 3200m. Since then amassing as many All-State medals as she can has become a big motivator.

With districts coming up, Bohn and Eftink have not decided what events she will be competing in but they both hope for as many individual event sectional qualifications as possible and also getting the 4x400 team qualified.

Bohn said they have already started preparing for the district meet as the regular season has been coming to a close.

“As far as preparing for that, towards the end of the season we’re doing faster but fewer reps of intervals on the track and just sharpening the speed,” Bohn said. “She already has the endurance that she's built up since the winter. So now later in the season, it's more about getting used to those faster paces that she's going to hopefully see in the postseason.”

The district meet is fast approaching but prior to that the final regular season meet for the Bulldogs is the Hillsboro Invitational on Friday.