PLATTSBURGH -- Luke West warmed up on the ice at Lake City Stars in Plattsburgh.

He was soon joined by Olympic Center Skating School Director Gilberto Viadana. And recently, at the North Atlantic Regional Figure Skating Championships at Jamestown, the school represented.

West placed third in Juvenile Boys. Allison "Alli" Shultes placed first and Alexandria Southard, eighth, in Novice Ladies. Alyssa Mahatme ranked sixth in Intermediate Ladies, and Kendall Wyckoff placed first in Junior Ladies. Ethan Amaral placed first in Intermediate Men.

"For us, the most important thing is the determination and motivation that these kids demonstrate," said Viadana, a native of Italy who participated in World and European figure-skating championships.

"It's not like other sports where athletes have to be flexible or strong. There's not one kind of proper skater "¦ They are completely different physically and in attitude.

"Like any sport if you want to be (at) the top, you have to work a lot. It has to be inside."

Viadana's staff includes choreographer Michela Boschetto, physiologist John Underwood, strength-and-conditioning expert Kyle Meadows and coach Trina Graham Erhard.

The school instructs students from novice to senior levels.

"Obviously the later you start, the harder it is for you to reach the top," Viadana said, adding that it's ideal for students to begin training between ages 4 and 6.

"A couple of kids started later. With their determination and drive they will reach a very good level though they started late."

The Olympic Regional Development Authority contacted Viadana and his wife, Boschetto, to come to Lake Placid for a three-year commitment.

And after a couple of seasons of transition, meeting with the kids and building a relationship with the management of ORDA, the Viadanas proposed to build a figure-skating program, which they have been directing since July 2006.

The school has 21 students from across the United States including Vermont, California and Florida.

West, a seventh-grader at Stafford Middle School, started skating competitively a year ago.

"I want to be a professional skater, and I wanted to skate," he said.