Kaitlin Hawayek
Kaitlin Hawayek is an American ice dancer. With her skating partner, Jean-Luc Baker, she is the 2018 Four Continents champion, 2018 NHK Trophy champion, and two-time U.S. national bronze medalists.
Earlier in their career, they became the 2014 World Junior champions, 2013 JGP Final silver medalists, and 2014 U.S. national junior champions.
Personal life
Kaitlin Hawayek was born in Buffalo, New York. Before moving to Detroit, she attended Nardin Academy High School. She is interested in neuroscience. Her two brothers play ice hockey.Career
Early years
Hawayek was introduced to ice skating by her mother in 1999. She was initially a single skater and represented the Skating Club of Western New York in her early career, coached by Janice Smith and Jessica Lauria. After switching to ice dancing, she teamed up with Michael Bramante in June 2010. They won the novice bronze medal at the 2011 U.S. Championships. The following season, Hawayek/Bramante competed at two ISU Junior Grand Prix events and finished sixth on the junior level at the 2012 U.S. Championships. They parted ways at the end of the season.2012–2013 season: First season with Baker
Hawayek teamed up with Jean-Luc Baker in June 2012. They were sent to two JGP events and won the silver medal in Germany. Hawayek/Baker took the junior silver medal at the 2013 U.S. Championships and were assigned to the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan where they finished seventh.2013–2014 season: World Junior title
During the 2013–14 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Hawayek/Baker won the gold medal in their JGP events, at the JGP Mexico and the JGP Poland. Their results qualified them to the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where they won the silver medal. They then won the gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships, setting a new Junior World record for the overall score with a total of 157.12 points.2014–2015 season
Hawayek/Baker began their season at an ISU Challenger Series event, the 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy. They finished fourth after placing fourth in the short and third in the free dance. Their Grand Prix assignments were the 2014 Rostelecom Cup and 2014 NHK Trophy, winning the bronze medal at the latter.2015–2016 season
Baker sustained a concussion when Hawayek accidentally struck him with her arm in September 2015, just prior to the Labor Day weekend. He returned to limited training after two weeks and full training a week later.Hawayek/Baker finished fourth at the 2015 Skate America. Due to food poisoning, Hawayek vomited eight times in four hours during the night before the short dance at the 2015 Cup of China. After competing in the first segment, the duo decided to withdraw. They placed fifth at the 2016 U.S. Championships.
2016–2017 season
Hawayek/Baker won the silver medal at the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International. Competing on the Grand Prix series, they finished sixth at the 2016 Skate Canada International and fourth at the 2016 NHK Trophy.2017–2018 season: Four Continents title
Beginning the season at the 2017 CS U.S. Classic, Hawayek/Baker won the silver medal. Their Grand Prix assignments were the 2018 Skate Canada International, where they placed fourth, and the 2018 Skate America, where they placed fifth. Following the Grand Prix they competed a second Challenger event, the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, winning the bronze medal.Hawayek/Baker won the pewter medal at the 2018 U.S. Championships, and were assigned to the 2018 Four Continents Championships, as the top three teams were sent to the 2018 Winter Olympics. They won the gold medal at Four Continents, finishing 9.33 points ahead of silver medalists Carolane Soucisse / Shane Firus. Baker remarked "it was really awesome, it was a new experience for us. We’ve medaled at junior events and sporadically at senior events in Grand Prixs or senior Bs. It was a really cool experience and we hope to do it more often in the future."
Following the withdrawal of Maia and Alex Shibutani, they were named to the US team for the 2018 World Championships in Milan, where they placed tenth. On April 20, 2018, they announced that in the summer they would begin training under Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
2018–2019 season: National bronze medal
Baker sustained a concussion during training in August 2018, and a result they withdrew from the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy. At their first Grand Prix assignment, the 2018 NHK Trophy, the withdrawal of Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron due to injury left several teams competing for the gold medal. Hawayek/Baker came second in the rhythm dance, behind Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro, but narrowly placed first in the free dance, winning the title overall. Hawayek called it "just such a pleasure and honor to be here performing", and was especially pleased at their results given they "had just three weeks of training fully recovered" prior. They placed only fourth at the 2018 Internationaux de France, but their results qualified them for the Grand Prix Final in Vancouver, where they placed sixth.At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Hawayker/Baker won the bronze medal. Reflecting on their move to Montreal, Hawayek called it "a great training center that we’re happy to be a part of. It makes us feel able to skate more openly and freely, and I think we’ll continue that for the next few years." They were assigned to the 2019 Four Continents Championships, where they finished fifth, and the 2019 World Championships, where they placed ninth.
2019–2020 season
Beginning the season at the 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Hawayek/Baker placed fourth in the rhythm dance, but took the silver medal overall after coming second in the free dance.For their first Grand Prix assignment, they competed at 2019 Skate Canada International, where they were third after the rhythm dance. In the free dance they dropped behind the British team Fear/Gibson. Competing at the 2019 Cup of China, Hawayek/Baker placed fifth in the rhythm dance after struggling on the Finnstep pattern dance. A number of errors in the free dance kept them in fifth in that segment as well, and overall.
Hawayek/Baker placed third in the rhythm dance at the 2020 U.S. Championships, and praised the crowd reception of their Saturday Night Fever program. Third in the free dance as well, they won their second national bronze medal.
At the 2020 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, they placed seventh in the rhythm dance after a double fall out of their dance lift, which Hawayek described as "a fluke thing that happened." Fifth in the free dance, they rose to sixth place overall.