Matt Gelso wants to finish with a title.

All signs point to the Colorado senior being on target to do just that.

Gelso will be a major part of the Colorado ski team's fortunes at this week's NCAA Ski Championships, which begin today in Steamboat Springs. The Buffs will be searching for their first NCAA team title since 2006 (also the last time the championships were held in Steamboat) and their 18th in school history.

Gelso, a cross country specialist, will be seeking his first NCAA crown. He'll have two chances to claim a title this week; victories in both would go a long way in helping the Buffs to a team title.

"When I started the year, winning one of the NCAA races was my priority," Gelso said Tuesday. "That's still definitely my goal.

"But if I can't do that, I want to finish up high in both of them. If I can do that, it will help us as a team. If I win one ... well, that's an ever bigger help."

Gelso enters the NCAAs on a hot streak. He's won his last four races -- a classical and freestyle win in the Nevada Invitational, followed by victories in the same two events at the NCAA West Regional.

He'll be among the favorites this week. The 10K classical event will be contested on Thursday, with the 20K freestyle event set for Saturday.

Gelso doesn't prefer one style over the other.

"I used to think I was strongest in classical," the Truckee, Calif., native said. "But most of my college wins have come in the long 20K skate (freestyle). I'll just race them both and see what happens."

One factor in Gelso's favor is that he'll be skiing a course with which he is very familiar. This week's meet will be held at the same facilities that hosted the NCAA regionals two weeks ago.

"You can get familiar with a course just by skiing it a couple of times," said Gelso, who will be competing in his fourth NCAA Championships. "But it's nice to have raced on it. You know how your body will react at points on the course when you are going hard."

While Gelso is certainly a big part of CU's hopes, he's by no means the only Buff who will be counted upon to score points. The No. 1-ranked Buffs have had good balance all year, getting points from both the Nordic and alpine sides.

Also a good bet to score for the Buffs in the Nordic competitions are Vegard Kjoelhamar, Jesper Ostensen, Eliska Hajkova, Joanne Reid and Alexa Turzian. All have at least three top-five finishes under their belts this year.

On the alpine side, CU has picked up wins from Gabriel Rivas (men's giant slalom) and Katie Hartman (women's GS), as well as top-five finishes from Erika Ghent, Carolina Nordh and Drew Roberts.

Colorado enters as the nation's top-ranked team, but two-time defending champion Denver, New Mexico, Dartmouth and Vermont are also considered strong contenders for the overall title.

CU coach Richard Rokos will be pursuing his sixth NCAA title. He and his skiers have dedicated this season to former CU skier and Olympian Jimmie Heuga, who died in February.

"The goals are the same," said CU coach Richard Rokos, who believes this is one of his strongest overall teams in his 20 years at CU. "They will never change. The one goal is to win it, but also to have a positive experience. Sportsmanship, achieve it under honorable conditions.

"But the bottom line is like we say every year. Our goal never changes. We don't ever go into this thinking second place would be a great finish."

Notable

CU freshman Nordic skier Joanne Reid has some strong bloodlines. Her mother, the former Beth Heiden, won a speedskating bronze medal in the 1980 Olympics, and also won the Coors Classic cycling race overall title that same year. In 1983, she enrolled at Vermont and won the NCAA cross-country ski championship. And, yes, that means Reid's uncle is five-time Olympic gold medalist Eric Heiden.

Boulder High School graduate Miles Havlick, now a freshman at Utah, will be competing for the Utes in the Nordic events.

A total of 22 schools will be competing in this week's meet: Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, Bates, Colby, Colorado, Dartmouth, Denver, Gustavus Adolphus, Michigan Tech, Middlebury, Montana State, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Northern Michigan, St. Lawrence, St. Michael's, Utah, Vermont, Wellesley, Williams and Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Denver has won the last two NCAA titles, with Dartmouth winning in 2007 and Colorado in 2006.

The NCAA Championships have been held in Colorado 11 times, with CU winning the title in six of those meets and Denver winning three.