Monday, September 1st 2008, 9:15 PM
Levi Johnston
He's a superhunky bad-boy ice hockey player from cold country; she's a chestnut-haired beauty and popular high school senior.
Soon the all-American teen twosome will make GOP vice presidential pick and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a grandma at age 44, just in time for Christmas.
Doe-eyed Bristol Palin, 17, and ruggedly handsome Levi Johnston, 18, have been dating for about a year, locals in their hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, told the Daily News.
And the pregnancy? An open secret in the close-knit town of 9,780.
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Bristol Palin, now a senior, was frequently seen cheering her young beau from the stands. He graduated high school in June.
Wasilla mom Jennie Johnston, whose son Jade played hockey with Levi, saw the young couple in January at a game.
"She was in a cute little outfit like young girls wear," said Jennie Johnston, who is not related to Levi Johnston. "She was with Levi."
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She said her son told her the two were already engaged.
"They've been together quite a while, more than a year," she said. "I hope everything comes out well. These are local kids."
Johnston, broadchested and wearing a No. 15 jersey, can be seen in photographs hitting the boards as a Warrior in action.
A closeup shot shows the handsome teen with a light dusting of whiskers on his chin - his dark brown hair curly and wet.
"Levi has got huge potential," Jennie Johnston said. "He's a smart kid."
Sarah Palin admitted Monday her "beautiful daughter" Bristol was five months pregnant and would marry Levi. The baby is due in late December.
In a photo taken on Aug. 28, Palin holds her infant brother Trig close to her belly during a campaign rally where Sen. John McCain introduced her mom as his running mate.
The campaign released word of the teen's pregnancy to knock down claims on Internet blogs that the teen - not her mom - secretly gave birth to Trig, who has Down syndrome.
Wasilla Warriors' coach Bill Sturdevant said he never believed that talk.
"Knowing Levi, from having him as a kid on teams, something like that, it would show on anybody," Sturdevant said. "He was the same kid from the beginning of the season to the end. No signs of anything like that.
"He was a good kid to be around, with lots of friends. He was well-liked."
A telephone number for Levi Johnston's parents, Sherry and Keith Johnston, was disconnected.
Bristol's pregnancy was no secret in the town that lies wedged between two mountain ranges.
The mother of one of Levi's friends, who asked not to be named, told The News that locals knew about Bristol's pregnancy for weeks.
Besides his hard play on the ice, Levi Johnston was also a bit of hell-raiser off it - another reason Bristol may have been smitten.
State troopers popped Johnston last year for snagging some King salmon out of season in Moose Lake, records from Alaska wildlife enforcement show. He had to pay $370 bail.
Mark Okeson, the assistant principal at Wasilla High School, told the Chicago Tribune that Bristol started her junior year last fall, in the town where Sarah Palin grew up.
He said Bristol inexplicably transferred to an Anchorage high school midyear, leaving Levi behind.
"I never heard the story why," he said."She was very well respected, very kind to be around. She ran in lots of circles."
He said he learned of the pregnancy Monday.
"I'm sorry to hear this, but I have every confidence they can handle this," he said. "Just like children should not pay for the sins of the parents, the parents should not pay for the transgressions of the children."
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