Camaraderie and Competition: Kristen Farling Pigg Remembers Chargers Tennis, Good Times
Written by Doug Goodnough
Kristen “Kiki” Farling Pigg, ’90, looks back at her Hillsdale College years with fondness.
The former women’s tennis player wasn’t an all-conference performer for the Chargers. However, she said that she now plays tennis almost every day, and “I’m pretty certain 55-year-old Kristen could beat 18-year-old Kristen.”
A member of the team that finished second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference during her senior year, Pigg said college tennis was more than the competition.
“For me, it was about camaraderie, the friends,” she said. “We laughed so hard. We had a great time just being together. That was the whole experience for me.”
She primarily played doubles for the Chargers, and credited former playing partners Kim Wells, ’90, and Amy Schaefer Waldvogel, ’91. A favorite memory was then-coach Alice Hullhorst asking Pigg to drive the team bus over the Mackinac Bridge while traveling to matches in the Upper Peninsula because Hullhorst had a fear of bridges.
The elementary education major said Dr. Traver Sutton and the education faculty were “fun and interesting.” And her on-campus job as a lifeguard starting at 5 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday kept her busy.
After graduation, she returned to her native Cleveland, Ohio, area to teach.
Recently retired after 34 years as a third-grader teacher for Cleveland Public Schools, Pigg said she now enjoys playing tennis, pickleball, and cards. She has even learned how to crochet.
“The retirement is new enough that I’m still finding my way into what will eventually be,” she said of her future plans. “But I’m not bored for a minute.”
An avid Cleveland Guardians baseball fan, Pigg often attends a game from her nearby home in Westlake, Ohio. She and her husband, Bill, have two sons. The oldest works as a senior premium partnership sales manager for the Detroit Lions, while the youngest is a senior at the University of Dayton.
“I look back on those years and I realize how fortunate we were to have that experience,” she said. “Going to Hillsdale College, it just meant you were living a good life. Hillsdale provided nice opportunities. It was a safe and fun environment. They really did have your best interest.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in January 2024