Megan Fong was a trailblazer at Auburn, winning the school's No. 1 girls singles title in 1999. She would repeat in 2000 and then head off to play college tennis at Bradley. Unfortunately, at Bradley she was diagnosed with leukemia and died at the age of 19.
Her coach, Tracy Palmer, remembers Fong 20 years later. You can read it by clicking here.
"I only played Megan a few times in high school matches. She was a couple years older than me. When we did play, she was a tough opponent for me then because she was calm, consistent and competitive. I always admired how calm she could stay when competing since that was my biggest weakness.
"Before finding out she was sick, my parents saw her competing at the same tournament I was at. She had been going to Bradley for a couple months by then. I remember them saying 'that is not the same Megan that we saw in high school tennis.' She did not have the same energy.
"When I heard she was sick I felt bad. I never really knew anyone that young to have cancer so it was scary. When she passed away I was sad for her family, for their loss. It made me think about life can be taken away from you at any time and how lucky I was to be healthy.
"When coaching juniors today, I stress about their attitude and staying calm and not showing weakness. That was the type of player Megan was and I really enjoy coaching players that can do this. I also find great joy when I can help players that are struggling with this to overcome it."
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