For the second straight year, Choteau’s Christine Funk and Michaela Gunderson left the State B/C tennis tournament with a state championship trophy, but in 2019 it was different piece of hardware and a more meaningful one.
Last year Gunderson finished second at state in the girls singles bracket, while Funk finished fourth. Those finishes were enough to claim the girls team title. This year, they teamed up and won a doubles state championship.
The weekend in Bozeman marked just their second tournament as a doubles team. It was a risk to team up, both girls had made their marks in singles play and didn’t have much time to build chemistry. But the gamble was worth it, and the both champions are glad they made the decision.
“We thought about it last year, but we didn’t really click together that well,” Gunderson said. “This year every tournament we went to we played doubles just for fun. So we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to just play doubles and go for it.”
“It was our last opportunity because she’s a senior and it was now or never,” Funk added.
Gunderson will attend Spokane Community College to play tennis, although she’s not sure if she will compete in singles or doubles. Funk will be a junior at Choteau next year and is also undecided whether she will return to singles or find a new doubles partner.
