Kirkland teenager Cooper McLeod has been skating for about as long as he’s been able to walk.

He first put on a pair of skates at 11 months while at a skate rink owned by family friends. While Cooper’s parents, Mike and Debbie, were skating with his older brother, Tyler, the owners managed to get Cooper into a pair of skates as well.

“We haven’t been able to take them off since,” joked Debbie McLeod, Cooper’s mother.

Since then, the 13-year-old has competed in both inline skating and speed skating, setting records and accumulating a bin full of medals. Most recently, this year he won in his age group at the national championship in short track speed skating, setting a record in the 333-meter distance, along with the 400 and 500 meters in the long track national championships – where he took second place overall. He also placed second at the inline national championships.

In total, he has won seven overall national championships (five in speed skating and two in inline speed skating) and holds 10 records (seven for speed skating and three in inline skating).

An eighth grader at Finn Hill Middle School, Cooper has also been named as one of five finalist in Sports Illustrated Kids Magazine contest for SportsKid of the Year. The winner will not only be featured on the magazine cover, but they’ll be invited to the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the year award ceremony in New York.

Although he got into his first pair of skates at 11 months, Coopers first inline skating race was at the age of 3, as part of a team in Burlington where the McLeods lived before moving to Kirkland last summer. At age 4, he went to his first national competition, placing second, and at 5 he took first while setting three records. Inline skating national championships involve three separate races; the 1,500 meters, 1,000 meters and 500 meters. Cooper said that with inline skating there’s a strong emphasis on maintaining balance, as the thin wheels and high speeds make it easier to topple over than other types of skates.Major component to success, especially in the shorter races, are fast reaction times for the starts, as well as making split-second decisions during the race.Endurance and strength come into play in the longer races.

“Everything is going so fast it’s hard to comprehend what’s going on,” he said of the sprint races.

His success in inline skating, which included being named the Northwest Regional Inline Skater of the Year in 2008 (and in 2014), was eventually joined by a foray into speed skating after watching the 2010 Winter Olympics competitions.

“There were definitely some difficulties,” he said of speed skating. “But I picked it up quickly. You learn more from your failures than your successes.”

However, the successes haven’t come without dedication. Cooper’s skating schedule fills up the entire week, with inline-skating practices with the Auburn Speed Team, coached by Laura Sweers and Jeremy Anderson, and speed skating with the Puget Sound Speed Skating Club in Tacoma, coached by Chang Lee. Although the practices are later in the evenings, competitions during the day often make for a long commute south.

“There are days on (Interstate) 405 that can be pretty dicey,” Debbie McLeod said.

Nor has success come without a few setbacks, including an incident at age 8 while training for nationals. While skating near the rink wall, Cooper tripped but managed to stay on his feet. However, he lost control and headed toward the rink wall. Attempting to use his hands to offset the impact, he ended up breaking both his arms.

“He should have fallen,” Debbie McLeod joked.

Missing nationals that year, Cooper’s arms were stuck in casts for six weeks, and it would be months before he could skate again.

“I was anxious to get back in (the rink),” he said.

And even when he was able to skate again, he struggled to stay up, falling three times during his first practice. But Cooper quickly recovered, going on to win the national speed skating long and short track championship for the 10-and-under division. In July 2011, Sports Illustrated Kids Magazine named him SportsKid of the Month.

His success on the ice has put him in a position to consider trying out for the 2018 Winter Olympics speed skating team, as he will turn 16 just in time for the tryouts.

“I think we’re in this for a while,” Debbie McLeod said. “But it’s fun. It’s fun to watch. And it’s great to see him enjoying it so much.”

For the time being, however, Cooper said he doesn’t like to think about 2018 as much as the present, especially the next race.

“I take it a day at a time,” he said. “You never know what could happen. I try to think of what’s in front of me at that minute.”

Anyone interested in voting for Cooper for Sports Illustrated Kids Magazine’s SportsKid of the Year can do so at http://www.sikids.com/skoty. Participants can vote as many times as they want. The voting will end at noon on Oct. 13.