Nils Koons and Sam Tarling raced through the foothills of Black Mountain with their high school ski teams many times before their Nordic skiing careers truly took flight.
Koons competed as a student at Messalonskee, Tarling at Greely.
This week, they returned to Maine for the U.S. Cross Country Championships wearing Dartmouth College green, finishing 22nd and 23rd overall in the men’s 30-kilometer freestyle event on Thursday.