Student Profi les

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STUDENT PROFILES

Thanks to the coaches and teachers at Northern and Northwest High Schools for their student recommendations and input, which make it possible to recognize these talented, dedicated students for their accomplishments in academics, athletics and cultural arts. NORTHWEST GUILFORD Jake Kawalec, senior

Sport: basketball

by MEREDITH BARKLEY In basketball, Northwest Guilford’s Jake Kawalec has found an outlet for releasing stress that builds up during the day.

“I see it as a way of relaxing, putting away school and everything that I have to be doing, and having fun with my friends,” said the 6-foot-1 senior shooting guard. “I just have a love for the sport.”

Kawalec, who figures he averaged about 12 points during early season games, makes some of those from 3-point range, which really gets him energized.

“When I put up a three and see it go in, that’s when it starts being fun,” he said. From his guard position, he said, “I get a good number of open threes. Every time I’m open, I look to knock down a three.”

Four 3-pointers in a game is about the most he’s hit, he said. That happened earlier this season.

“Once I started (hitting them) I was like, ‘It’s going to be a good season, going to be a lot of fun,’” Kawalec said.

He said he’d be open to taking it to the next level and playing in college if he gets any interest.

Kawalec started playing basketball when he was around 5. He played junior varsity at Northwest his freshman year before stepping up to varsity as a sophomore.

His coaches have urged players to put themselves in position to take charges when possible, he said. That gives the Vikings the ball, can lead to easy baskets and is often “a good momentum switch.”

While he is not often in a position to take a charge, he drew one during a recent game, “and I looked over and everyone on the bench was going crazy,” Kawalec said.

In the classroom, his favorite subject this year has been psychology. He said he’s found it fascinating to “just learn about everything that happens and goes through our brain.”

In college he hopes to focus on something involving sports medicine, perhaps physical therapy.

“I just think it would be really cool to have a career with a college team,” he said.

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NORTHERN GUILFORD Taylor Haynes, senior

Sport: basketball

by MEREDITH BARKLEY Wearing a face mask for basketball has taken some getting used to for Northern Guilford’s Taylor Haynes. “It keeps falling down,” the 5-foot-9 senior said.

But, she said, the Covid-19-required change “that’s most different to me is not having a jump ball to start the game, because that sets the tempo for everything.”

Nevertheless, she and her teammates have adjusted to those and other changes brought on during this pandemic-altered season.

“It didn’t matter what we were going to have to go through,” she said. “It just matters that we’re all together as a team.”

As the Nighthawks’ point guard and shooting guard, Haynes seems to have settled into a rhythm despite it all. She led the team with 15 points per game during early contests and is one of the top 3-point shooters in the