Kaitlin Hawayek (born November 4, 1996) is an American ice dancer. With her skating partner, Jean-Luc Baker, she is the 2018 Four Continents champion, the 2018 NHK Trophy champion, and a four-time U.S. national bronze medalist (2019–22).
Earlier in their career, she and Baker became the 2014 World Junior champions, the 2013 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists, and the 2014 U.S. national junior champions.
Kaitlin Hawayek was born in Buffalo, New York. She is the daughter of Jon and Kirstin Hawayek and has two brothers, Bradley and Nathan. Before moving to Detroit, she attended Nardin Academy High School. She is interested in neuroscience. Both of her brothers play ice hockey. She has been based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, since moving for training purposes in 2018.
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.
2012–13 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.
2013–14 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.
2014–15 season: First Grand Prix medal
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.
Baker sustained a concussion when Hawayek accidentally struck him with her arm in September 2015, just before 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.
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.
2017–18 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 in 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.
2018–19 season: Grand Prix gold, national bronze