Athlete of the Week: Chace Kahn

By Maddy Yorke, Lola Coulter, Emma Wenning
Sports Reporters

As the winter sports seasons progress, junior captain Chace Khan continues to lead the Newton South alpine ski team. Khan has been a competitive skier from an early age, and is carrying the team this season.

After coming in second place by .01 seconds last Tuesday, Khan is currently tied for first overall in the league. This has been an important factor in the success of the South alpine ski team.

Denebola got a chance to sit down with captain Chace Khan as the season continues.

When did you start skiing?

“I started skiing when I was half a year old, but I started racing in fifth grade.”

How do you train for ski competitions?

“Since I started racing, my coaches set up a course and then I go up and down the course. A lot of times my coaches take videos so that I can watch them later and see how I need to improve. Going up and down the course many times can give me a feel about what event it is and how to execute well and get down the fastest, which is the goal of the race.”

Do you ski for a club team? How does a club team compare to South’s team?

“I used to be on a ski team outside of South as well, but I stopped this year. South is during the week and races on a different mountain than where I normally race which is in Vermont. The run we go down in Nashoba is a black, but is not that steep. South’s team is more competitive because of how short the courses are. I won one race by around five hundredths of a second.”

Which events do you ski?

“Here we ski [Giant Slalom] and slalom. [Giant Slalom] is when the gates are more spread out and you go around them with wider turns, so the skis are longer for that. For slalom, it is shorter turns and is more technical. If you mess up the slightest thing you’ll wipe out.”

How do you balance academics and late ski practices?

“I try to do a lot of my homework during school because we get back so late. I sometimes try to do homework on the bus.”

Do you have any future plans for skiing?

“I don’t really have any future plans. If there comes an opportunity to play in college I will, but I am not relying on it.”