East Aurora’s Ice Dancer is One to Watch for the Olympics
It may feel far away, but February 2022 has been marked on Kaitlin Hayawek’s calendar for a while. “It’s a goal that I’ve had since I was a little kid,” she told 2 On Your Side. By this time next year, the East Aurora native hopes to be a U.S. Olympian. “Over the last several […]
Dogged Determination Has Hawayek a Step Closer to the Olympics
Buffalo native Kaitlin Hawayek figured she had seen it all in her career as a competitive ice dancer. But she’ll be the first to tell you that this year’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships went right to the dogs. “We didn’t have an audience,” Hawayek said this week from her home in Montreal. “There were cardboard […]
Washington’s Figure Skater Jean-Luc Baker’s Road to the Olympics
The Beijing Winter Olympics are fast approaching, athletes from across the country are preparing to make the case to their respective sports, that they deserve a spot on the team. Last week the United States Figure Skating Association hosted its annual nationals competition, skaters were across the country decided on Sin City with the hope […]
East Aurora’s Kaitlin Hawayek Eyes Medal at US Championships
Kirstin and Jon Hawayek arrived at their daughter’s apartment in southwest Montreal last weekend, well before the snowstorm, on a mission to pick up Kaitlin’s miniature Goldendoodle puppy. Within minutes, she handed them a gold medal as well. Old awards always end up back home in Western New York. The dog does, too, at least […]
Hawayek & Baker Aim to Continue Breakthrough Season
When American ice dancer Jean-Luc Baker suffered a concussion during preseason training in August, his season with partner Kaitlin Hawayek could easily have gone off the rails. They lost training time and weren’t able to compete before their first Grand Prix event of the season, NHK Trophy in Japan in November. But instead, after a […]
Hawayek & Baker Shine in 2018 Grand Prix Debut
Competing for the first time this season in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker made quite the statement. Skating to “In This Shirt” by the Irrepressibles, the U.S. team scored 113.92 on their free dance Sunday to take the top overall score at the NHK Trophy in Hiroshima, […]
2018 GP Preview: Hawayek & Baker Move to Fertile Training Ground
Ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker wrapped up last season riding a wave of momentum, securing the pewter medal at the U.S. Championships, winning the Four Continents title and finishing 10th at their first World Championships. Partners since 2012, Hawayek and Baker feel they are now primed to take that next step and have moved […]
Bonjour from Montreal!
Bonjour from Montreal, Kaitlin here! I’m super excited to start sharing a monthly blog with U.S. Figure Skating on the new Fan Zone, and give you all a glimpse into my life as an athlete! This summer marked a lot exciting changes for my partner Jean-Luc and me! We moved from our training location of six […]
Hawayek and Baker to Train in Montreal
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker announced today they will begin training with Marie France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon this summer in Montreal, Canada. The team trained had under Pasquale Camerlengo and Angelika Krylova in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan since 2012. “We are incredibly grateful for everything that Pasquale and Angelika and the rest of our team […]
East Aurora Native Hawayek Lands Spot as Olympic Alternate
If anything happens to one of the U.S. Olympic ice dance teams in Pyeongchang, South Korea, phones in Western New York may start ringing. Kaitlin Hawayek, a 21-year-old East Aurora native, is an alternate to the Olympic figure skating team. She and partner Jean-Luc Baker of Seattle are staying in peak condition during the Games in […]
Edmonds Native on Ice Dance Team Eyeing Winter Olympics
After the music stopped and the program was over, Jean-Luc Baker, down on one knee, gave a smile and a small fist pump before turning his head toward his partner Kaitlin Hawayek, who had her face buried in her hands in an expression of pure joy. Baker, a native of Edmonds, and Hawayek had just completed […]
Hawayek & Baker Score First Gold at Senior Level w/Four Continents Win
Former world junior champions Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker led a strong contingent of American ice dancers with a gold medal and Team USA’s first medal of the Four Continents Championships on Thursday in Taipei City. Their win continues a string of success for American ice dancers at Four Continents. It is the 11th gold medal by […]
Skate America Attracts Aspiring Olympians
Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships veterans Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, the 2014 World Junior champions, will return to Lake Placid for the Skate America Grand Prix event Nov. 24-26. The skaters have been building their careers since their World Junior win in 2014 – most recently with fifth-place finishes at the 2016 and 2017 […]
Ice Talk: Ep. 41 Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker
U.S. ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker talk about the growing pains they went through in the 2015-16 season and their breakout performance at last year’s NHK Trophy. Nick McCarvel and Jackie Wong talk to athletes, coaches, choreographers and other skating personalities about their experiences in the sport. Nick and Jackie are also joined […]
Olympian Jones Baker Hopes Family Legacy Grows
As he aims to fulfill his dream, ice dancer Jean-Luc Baker continues to work toward earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team ahead of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Should he be successful in his attempt to reach PyeongChang with partner Kaitlin Hawayek, the 23-year-old will make personal history, but not family history. His […]
“Behind the Program, Ep. 7: Hawayek & Baker, Free Dance”
24 hours. That’s approximately how much time passed, after a troubled free dance performance at the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, before Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker seriously mulled the possibility of bringing back — or, rather, keeping with — their well-received Liebestraum free dance for the Olympic season… “We had a meeting the next morning […]
“NBC Olympics – Q&A with Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker”
Ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker discuss their Olympic season programs and how they first partnered up with NBC Olympics. Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker are the 2014 world junior ice dance champions. They also had back-to-back fifth place finishes at nationals in 2016 and 2017. Despite their young age compared to other teams […]
“Inspiration on Ice”
“Inspiration on Ice” spotlights several national champion competitors together with the Mercyhurst University Division 1 men’s hockey team, giving 80 special needs individuals the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience. Gliding Stars presents its 17th annual ice show, “Inspiration on Ice,” featuring music by Tennessee Backporch (live on ice!) this Saturday at […]
“Blues on Ice”
Let it be clear: blues in competitive figure skating can in no way truly be equated to blues the form of social dance. Even the most musically nuanced ice dancers are dancing in blades on an ice surface; they are obligated to incorporate a number of required technical elements, including lifts and separated sections very […]
“Donovan: 2016 Skate Canada Fashion Awards”
I am infinitely charmed by these two simply due to their equal ability to lift each other off the ice, but I am even more impressed with Hawayek’s fabulously sexy dress for the pair’s short dance. Yes, she carried the entire stylistic weight of the team on her back, and with a dress that good, […]
“Hawayek, Baker Take a Fundamental Approach”
In the months after the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were productive for Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, but they weren’t very exciting. “Lots of long days, long hours, not doing anything but drills. It got a bit monotonous,” Hawayek said. “We’d ask our coaches, ‘Can’t we work on new programs? New elements?’ They said, ‘No, […]
“Hawayek & Baker Bring a Fresh Inspiration”
Ice dancers, Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker, have only been skating with each other for roughly four years, but they have quickly become one of the rising teams to watch in the U.S. After partnering in 2012, they captured the silver at their very first U.S. championships and went on to become the U.S. junior champions in […]
“We want to be a little bit of everyone, but better…”
Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker are rising stars of American Ice dancing. During the 2013-2014 season, the US Junior Ice Dance champions competed at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships and were crowned World Junior Ice Dance champions. After a strong showing at the junior level, the duo moved up to the senior rankings the […]
“A Season of Ups and Downs, Risks and Rewards”
There are seasons that can make a career and seasons you just, well, manage. Sometimes they’re one in the same, though Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker will have to look back from a spot well down the line to know if this is one of those. Right now, with the calendar just turning over to 2016, […]
“Together, Hawayek and Baker, Shaping Their Vision”
If American ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker know their stylistic strengths, they know even better how they aim to expand them — beginning with a season’s debut at this week’s Finlandia Trophy. Their new short dance, featuring “Waltz of the Flowers” and “Dance of the Parents” from The Nutcracker, came together through collaboration between the […]
“Hawayek and Baker Reach for the Stars with New Free”
There are days when some things don’t work quite right for Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker. Twizzles aren’t in perfect unison. A lift doesn’t go up quick enough. Their coaches at the Detroit Skating Club (DSC) are grumpy. Frustration flares. “Why can’t we get this? What’s the matter with us today?” Then they think about the […]
“Hawayek and Baker Ready to Push New Boundaries”
American ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker couldn’t be happier with their first run on the senior circuit last season. They fully embraced their transition from juniors to seniors and felt they made a great splash. “We were thrilled with how we transformed into a senior team as well as the performances we put […]
“Man of the Year Finalist: Jean-Luc Baker”
Though Jean-Luc Baker has an unquestionably bright future in skating, his recent past was very good, too. In the past year Baker, who grew up in Edmonds and is a 2012 graduate of Mukilteo’s Kamiak High School, collected two big prizes in ice dancing with partner Kaitlin Hawayek of East Aurora, N.Y. The duo won […]