Southeast Missourian Player of the Week: Elizabeth Kiblinger

Notre Dame senior Elizabeth Kiblinger put together a pair of top-two finishes in a span of less than 48 hours.

Kiblinger finished second in the SEMO North Conference cross country meet Thursday afternoon, crossing the line in 20 minutes, 19.19 seconds. Jackson's Taylor Dickerson won the race in 19:55.05,

"I'm pretty happy because Taylor is an awesome runner," Kiblinger said. "I thought I ran pretty good. It was a little tough because I was running by myself."

Kiblinger followed that performance by winning the race at Saturday's Farmington Invitational. She covered that course in 19:14.18.

Kiblinger, who finished 17th at the state meet last year, is putting together a memorable senior season. She broke the school record at the Notre Dame Invitational earlier this month when she finished in 18:57.

"Coach really stresses summer miles," she said after that race. "So I ran over 500 from June to August, and I think that's helping a lot now."

Kiblinger and the Bulldogs will compete in the Class 3 District 1 meet in Farmington on Oct. 29.