Net Gains

Tennis provided the avenue Kris Klima needed to become the first in her family to attend college. Now, she and her husband, Jake Klima, are serving up the same opportunity for future generations.

A generous donation from the Washburn alumni will strengthen the university’s burgeoning tennis program and launch a new community-focused Washburn tennis academy, opening more pathways for young players across Topeka to fall in love with the sport.

Enhancements to the complex will include new championship courts, improved spectator seating and lighting that will allow evening matches. The gift from Kris, ba ’05, and Jake, bba ’05, Klima will also support scholarships. They made the gift in honor of Kris’ family, which became rooted in Topeka as Kris and her sister pursued educations as tennis student-athletes.

(The latest renderings of the Washburn Tennis Complex upgrades show the new lighting, seating, landscaping and two championship courts.)

“I’m excited about helping the student-athletes have a great facility to play at, but also for the improvements for spectators as well,” said Kris, who played on Washburn’s women’s tennis team from 2001-05 as Kris Castillo. “Transforming that area into something that can be watched at night will allow more community members to come see matches. We’ve certainly been interested in watching what’s transpired with the tennis program ourselves, with Coach Kirby (Ronning) and the program doing so well.”

Washburn’s men’s and women’s tennis teams both won MIAA titles in 2025. The women’s team advanced to the national quarterfinal in 2023 and the round of 16 in 2024. The men finished as national runner-up in May 2025. Both teams have progressed steadily since the Klimas attended Washburn.

Originally from San Antonio, Kris received a scholarship to play tennis at Washburn. She was an all-MIAA selection and helped lead the team to its first regional championship and national tournament appearance in 2003-04. Her younger sister, Alyssa Castillo, ba ’13, later received a Washburn tennis scholarship from 2008-11, becoming the second family member to attend college. While at Washburn, Kris met Jake, and Alyssa met her partner, tennis teammate Jamie Blackim, bs ’13.

“Fourteen years ago, we started endowing a scholarship called the Klima Family First-Generation Scholarship that provides scholarships to first-generation college students,” Jake said. “The reason we wanted to give back now, to tennis specifically, is because we know sports can be a way kids can get that next step in education when they may not be able to get it on their own.”

Jake, now president of Advisor Development at Advisors Excel, has spent the past 19 years with the company. Kris co-founded Impact Topeka Foundation, a nonprofit organization focusing on kids serving kids. She is a former director of admissions at Washburn and currently serves on the Washburn University Alumni Association and Foundation board of trustees.

“The idea was I would come up to Topeka, play tennis and get my degree, then go back to Texas. Clearly, twenty-something years later, I’m still here,” Kris said. “Washburn really did change my life. I met my husband here. It gave me a profession. I worked in higher education for over a decade at Washburn, and it’s become a place that feels like home, which is so important to me.”

The Klimas’ gift is part of the university’s recently approved $10 million Athletics Corridor Master Plan, focused on enhancements along College Avenue from Durow Road to Southwest 18th Street. In addition to tennis improvements, overall plans include an updated football locker room, a fan-focused tailgate plaza and pedestrian upgrades.

Meanwhile, the tennis academy will create a bridge between campus and community. The Klimas said the academy’s goal is not to replace any junior programs in town, but to feed into them. Participants can dip their toe into the sport at Washburn, then progress to lessons at Topeka clubs or take advantage of Topeka Tennis Association scholarships.

“Kris was hitting with a tennis pro at a club in another country, and he was talking about how their academy has been a way for eight to 10 kids each year to go to Division II or Division I schools in the United States, including one who played at Washburn,” Jake said. “It got us thinking, ‘Is there a way these facilities at Washburn could help do the same thing?’ Kudos to leadership at Washburn for thinking outside the box to not only make these facilities awesome for student-athletes and spectators at Washburn, but also to affect kids in the local area, which is really the ultimate goal.”