THE FRONT ROW with BRUCE BOURQUIN, Aug. 28, 2014

At the sage age of 8 years old, Deseree Atwood of Blanchard climbed to the top of the mountain in inline skating, winning the 400-meter, 200-meter races and the mixed relay race with Ryan Dawson at the Indoor National Inline Championship on July 15 in Lincoln, Neb., competing against girls ages 7 and 8. Her times were 22.3 seconds in the 200, 34.14 in the 300 and 44.54 in the 400.

The girl from the town of 261 located 7 miles northwest of Spirit Lake even won a shiny gold medal and a jacket for her performances.

HOW QUICKLY she was able to win those titles - she started in November and took a mere nine months to become a national champion - is pretty cool.

Deseree, a Coeur d'Alene-born third-grade student who has earned straight A's at Spirit Lake Elementary, practices for a few hours four or five times a week at Skate Plaza in Coeur d'Alene, right off U.S. 95. She turns 9 in Feburary.

"When she first started with me, I saw how competitive she was," said Joe LeGault of Hayden, Atwood's coach who is also the coach of the United States World Inline Skating team. "When she was in one of her first practices, I had to do a double-take, because it was fast enough to win a competition. She was a very good learner. She's got some good natural talent; I'm really proud of her."

Back in November, Atwood, like many beginners her age, had to find her balance.

"We went from me holding her hand to having her learn how to do a crossover to build some speed," LeGault said. "She had older girls around her age who were national champions who she looked up to and who were good role models - Paige Dawson, who's 10, who she idolized."

Once Atwood found her way, she was literally off to the races. She was undefeated this past season, winning all five of her races on 100-meter tracks.

"She'd win the start and it'd be over," LeGault said.

DANA ATWOOD, Deseree's father, is a retired heavy equipment manager who served in the Navy until 1963. His wife, Ayu, and he are pretty pleasant folks.

"There was a tournament soon after Deseree first started, but her coach said she wasn't ready just yet," Dana Atwood said. "When he got back in January, he said, 'Why don't you give me a three-lap race? She was half a second faster than the girl that won. In the 15th of January, she went to her first tournament in Auburn, Wash. She made a couple small mistakes, but she won by a quarter of a skate. At nationals, she went to town."

IN ORDER to qualify to compete for the national championships, Atwood had to place among the top four skaters at the Region 1 elite primary competition in June 14 in Seattle. She was the overall champion, winning every tournament. Her times were 23.62 seconds in the 200, 35.98 in the 300 and 47.34 in the 400.

"After she got done at regionals, I said 'I'm pretty sure she'll win it all,'" Dana Atwood said. "I saw her on jump skates and I just sensed something. So I told the coach about it, after regionals, people asked her how'd she get so good, so fast? She said she didn't know and her dad didn't know. One of the oldest kids on our team, he's her biggest fan. She said it's almost unheard of for her to do what she's done in only six months. We have a standing joke, ours is, someone will ask us 'Are you sure that's the little girl the coach was holding her hand in November? I said, 'No, we got rid of her and got a new one.'"

At nationals in Omaha, Deseree also had to compete in two heat races against a total of 18 girls before the finals race.

"She's a very talented lady for what she does, she loves to race and she started out in the 17-second bracket going around the 100 meter track," Dana Atwood said. "Now she skates around there in 10.7 seconds."

THIS SEASON, Atwood is looking to compete in her first tournament in Tacoma. The national competition will be held from July 19 to August 9, 2015 in Albuquerque, N.M. Deseree also takes piano lessons and is involved with ballet. And don't think this sport is without injury risk, like many other sports. Dana Atwood said he's seen boys and girls suffer concussions and broken arms.

David Charney, the Dawsons' uncle, has donated some equipment to the Atwoods for their daughter's skating as well.

"It's amazing what he (LeGault) has done with our daughter," Dana Atwood said. "It teaches them discipline."

And Atwood has shown the nation what a young girl from Blanchard can do on the skating track.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013 or via e-mail at bbourquin@cdapress.com and he can be reached on Twitter @bourq25.