More than two decades and 200 miles separate a pair of athletes.
Ingrid Jolowsky was a No. 1 singles tennis player and basketball guard in high school in Madison, Minn., in west central Minnesota in the 1980s.
Hillary Bungarden plays No. 1 singles for the Hibbing-Chisholm girls team and is a basketball guard for the Bluejackets.
Jolowsky, Hillary's mom, admits to having a hand in her daughter's interest in tennis, but now enjoys watching from the sidelines.
"As a seventh-grader, Hillary wasn't sure she liked tennis, and then took some lessons and decided she loved the game," said Jolowsky, whose alma mater consolidated in 1990 to become Lac qui Parle Valley. "I'm not a coach by any means, but I was there to help her and be a practice partner. She picks up things well because she has a good head on her shoulders, and she's an all-around athlete."
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Bungarden joined the tennis varsity in eighth grade at No. 4 singles and has moved up one position each year, and followed graduated Katie Bolf at the top of the lineup. Bungarden was on Hibbing-Chisholm's Class AA tournament-qualifying team in 2005 and finished second to Bolf in the 2007 Section 7AA final to advance to the Class AA singles tournament, and is 13-4 this season.
Jolowsky was Madison's No. 1 player for three years, which included three trips as a team to the Minnesota Class A tournament (1983-85) and three trips to the Class A doubles tournament. Madison placed third as a team in Class A in 1985.
Bungarden, seeking a third state-tournament trip, will rely on her aggressive play in the postseason next month.
"I'm not one to sit back and stay at the baseline and outwait someone. I like to come to the net and make a play," Bungarden said. "My game at the net has come so far in the last year; I feel so comfortable there now."
Hibbing-Chisholm coach Gary Conda gave Bungarden her first lessons, while St. Scholastica coach Wells Patten has provided offseason instruction the past two years. Hibbing also offers a summer tennis program three days a week with two practice sessions daily.
Outside of basketball season, tennis is Bungarden's main focus. She often practices with the Hibbing-Chisholm boys team in the spring and plays a handful of tournaments in the summer. Her best performance this year was a victory at 18-under singles in the Paul Bunyan Open Challenger 1 in June and July in Brainerd, Minn., finishing 4-1 in the round-robin event.
"I'm always asking Hillary to come to the net and I think she surprises a lot of players because not many girls are willing to use an attack game," Conda said. "She's got a good overhead, and can volley, and likes to end points quickly."
Grand Rapids-Greenway junior Sarah Stejskal and Bungarden are the top Class AA singles players in Northeastern Minnesota, but face the challenge of two Elk River stars -- No. 4-rated Katie Jesperson and No. 8 Cassandra Brown -- for Section 7AA supremacy. Defending champion Elk River, ranked No. 6, is the team favorite in Section 7AA.
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One thing in Bungarden's favor is her mental toughness, Conda said. She's not bothered by a bad shot.
"You have to believe you're making the right decision at the right time," Bungarden said. "If things don't work out, you can't waste time being mad at yourself. You let it go and keep a positive attitude."
Wakeboarding, snowboarding, snowmobiling, four-wheeling and hunting also keep Bungarden busy, but the family sport is tennis.
