EC grad chases Olympic dream
By BARRY HALVORSON sports@leader-news.com

Contributed Photo Ice Bird El Campo High School graduate Chase DeHan is persuing an Olympic dream in the sport of skeleton. Similar to bobsled and luge, skeleton involves racing head first on ice with a small sled-like apparatus.

While many will sit on the sofa watching the Olympics and dream about being part of the U.S. team, 2001 El Campo High School Graduate Chase DeHan got up off the seat and is doing something to make the dream come true.

The son of former Wharton County Assistant District Attorney Dawn Allison - who now practices private law in El Campo - DeHan is living out his dream by taking to the ice and competing in the sport of skeleton in Park City, Utah.

He moved to Utah in April after separating from the Marine Corps to pursue the sport, which involves going down a bobsled run, head first, on something that is little more than a small strip of plastic with two sharp metal runners.

"My friends looked at what I was planning to do and called me crazy," he said. "I thought it looked awesome."

DeHan picked Utah because it is one of only three locations in North America - the others being Lake Placid and Calgary - that have bobsled runs.

While inexperienced, DeHan, 24, is already moving up in the sport and has been invited to compete at the National Team Trials to be held in his new hometown on Nov. 16 and 17. He is one of 23 "sliders" invited to the competition.

"The team trials are important to establish your national and international ranking," he said. "There are a lot of competitions where only ranked sliders are invited so you have to get ranked so you can attend and start moving up the ladder."

DeHan said he always had a fantasy about being an Olympic athlete, but only started doing something about it while watching the 2004 Summer Games.

"I had the dream as a little kid and watching those games reminded me of it," he said. "Then I read a story about bobsled in one of my sports magazines and thought 'I could do that.' As it turned out, I wasn't big enough because those guys are monsters. But it turns out I have the perfect build for skeleton."

In preparation for the trials, DeHan said he is working out at the gym 12 times a week. He said his athleticism is the one edge he currently has on most of the competition.

"Actually, there are around 21 serious skeleton riders around the country and there's a lot of turnover in the sport," he said. "I was added to the list based on what I've shown in the gym so this is a real opportunity for me.

"The top 13 were invited to the A trials while the bottom 10, including me, were picked for the B trials. The top two finishers in 'B' advance to the 'A' which is my current goal. Ultimately I'd like to make the 2010 Olympic team, but I like to set realistic, achievable interim goals to say motivated."

Among the drawbacks of his sport is the cost. He said of the sliding sports, bobsled is the most notable and receives the lion's share of the funding, followed by luge and then skeleton.

"Last year, the members of the U.S. skeleton team were paying their own way to competitions," he said. "The expense is part of the reason for the turnover rate."

He supports himself by working part-time, being a student part-time using his G.I. Bill and off savings he banked while in the military.

"But I did get an early present from my mother," he said. "She bought me a pair of ice spikes. They are specialized for the sport and have 500 tiny spikes on the toe of each shoe. There's only one manufacturer, Adidas; you can only get them from Germany and they cost $400 a pair."

DeHan said he has learned to love snow in just a short time because snow means ice and ice means sliding.

"I'm anxious to get on the track," he said. "I've been working with a trainer (former Olympic Gold Medalist Tristan Gale) and have a good push time, but I need to work on my driving skills. But with my strong push, I can make up for some of my inexperience in driving."

And while he has moved to the land of ice and snow, DeHan said he has no plans to forget where he's been on the way to the top of a winter sport.

"When I finally get my own sled, I'm planning on painting a big Texas flag on the bottom so people will know where my roots are."

Fans can keep up with and help support De- Han by logging onto his Web journal at www.texanslider. blogspot.com or on his Web site at www. texanslider.net.