Last modified: Monday, December 15, 2008 2:15 AM EST Colin Grafton of North Attleboro skates with his partner Kylie Duarte of Cumberland, R.I. The pair will compete in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship in January. (Submitted photo) North Attleboro teen skating for a dream BY AMY DeMELIA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORTH ATTLEBORO - A North Attleboro teenager with a talent for figure skating will be chasing his Olympic dream next month when he competes in the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship. Colin Grafton, a junior at North Attleboro High School, will be competing at the national competition twice - by himself in the men's individual competition and with his partner Kylie Duarte of Cumberland, R.I. in the pairs competition. Grafton said he is looking forward to the competition, which will be held from Jan. 18 to 25 in Cleveland, Ohio. Skating in both the single and pairs competition means more work but also more fun, Grafton said. "It doesn't put a lot a lot of pressure on me at all," he said. "It's something I've always dreamed of doing so I'm looking forward to it." The Nationals are the traditional competition used for Olympic trials for United States skaters. While this is not the right year for the Olympic trial, Grafton said he is excited to have the experience of skating at Nationals. After all, like many ice skating competitors, it is Grafton's dream to compete in the Olympics. In fact, it was the Olympics that inspired Grafton's interest in figure skating. "I've been skating competitively since I was 9 years old but I got started when I was 8," Grafton said. "I really started getting into skating because of watching the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. I liked watching all of it, but especially seeing Tara Lipinski win the gold." Grafton had a chance to meet Lipinski a year later - while he was skating with Scott Hamilton as part of his Stars on Ice farewell tour. Qualifying for the National Championships is not easy. Skaters first have to do well in the New England Regional Championships and then have to place in the top four in the Eastern Sectional Championships - which features skaters from the eastern half of the United States. Grafton placed third in the Eastern Sectionals for both the individual competition and with Duarte for the pairs competition. Don't ask him to choose whether he prefers pairs over individual events. "I love them both so much I really couldn't choose," he said. "I just really enjoy skating." The pair are no strangers to winning - Duarte and Grafton last year won the Junior National competition and were placed on the Olympic development team, where they are coached on the skills they will need to compete in the Olympics. In addition, Grafton has several coaches of his own. His freestyle or singles coach is Debi Leeming while he and Duarte have a coaching trio of Bobby Martin, Sheryl Franks and Carrie Wall. For the national program, Duarte and Grafton will be skating a short program called "Classico Romantico" and a long program based upon the Theme from Ice Castles. "We've gotten a lot of good comments from the judges on our long program," Grafton said. "We wear sort-of old fashioned costumes." For his singles competition, Grafton's short program has a Spanish style and his long program is set to music from the movie "Born on the Fourth of July." The North Attleboro High School junior spends almost every day carving out time on the ice. He skates at the Colonial Figure Skating Club in Boxboro, which was home ice for Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan. "I go to school every day until noon and then I leave to go skating in Acton-Boxboro, which is an hour long drive. I skate five to six days a week, usually for about three hours," he said. "My school is really great. I'm in communications with my teachers all the time and get my homework done in the car - since it's an hour ride. I don't need to sleep that much. I know, that a terrible thing for an athlete, but I really don't need a lot of sleep."