Community Roundup: Edmonds skater places fourth at nationals

Published 1:30 am Monday, January 8, 2018

Jean-Luc Baker and his partner, Kaitlin Hawayek, turned in the performance of their careers at the recent U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Baker, a native of Edmonds, and Hawayek, from East Aurora, New York, earned a career-best score of 187.61 to finish fourth in the ice dancing competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships held this weekend in San Jose, California. Their previous best score was 177.36 at the 2016 Golden Spin held in Zagreb, Croatia.

Baker and Hawayek, who have been a pair since 2012 and were the 2014 World Junior champions, placed fourth in both Friday’s short dance (73.18) and Sunday’s free dance (114.43). They finished behind the pairs of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates, all of whom are considered medal contenders for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, which take place in February in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The fourth-place finish matched Bakers’ and Hawayek’s best-ever finish at senior nationals. The duo also finished fourth in 2015.

Baker, who is 24, and Hawayek, who is 21, took part in the medal ceremonies, and the pair has its sights set on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.

Tritons, Trojans honored

Members of the Edmonds Community College men’s basketball team and the Everett CC women’s basketball team were named to all-tournament teams for their performances in recent holiday tournaments.

Edmonds went 2-1 in Pool B of the Clackamas Holiday Invitational held Dec. 28-30. Zach Walton, a sophomore forward from Morton who averaged 26.0 points and 9.0 rebounds, and Devin Price, a sophomore forward from Salt Lake City who averaged 11.3 points and 9.0 rebounds, were among the six players from four teams named to the all-tournament squad.

Everett went 1-2 at the Skagit Valley Holiday Tournament, also held Dec. 28-30. Everett’s Tyra Lopez, a sophomore forward from Burlington who averaged 19.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists, was among the eight players from eight teams named to the all-tournament team.

If you have an idea for a community sports story, e-mail Nick Patterson at npatterson@heraldnet.com.