The University of Colorado ski team will attempt to make history starting Wednesday in the NCAA Championships at the historic Lake Placid ski area in New York.

CU is looking for its 20th national championship in skiing, and coach Richard Rokos is seeking his eighth NCAA title, which would push him past Bill Marolt (seven in skiing) and Mark Wetmore (seven in cross country and track and field) for the most in school history.

CU has qualified a full team of 12 skiers for the 62nd annual NCAA Skiing Championships at Lake Placid, the first time the ski area is hosting the collegiate meet in 33 years.

“It’s a place with so much charisma, history and obviously very important to the United States,” Rokos said. “For us, it’s great to have the privilege to compete at a place with such great tradition. We haven’t had the NCAAs here for a long time, so there’s definitely some mystique to it.”

CU is coming off a victory in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association championships, and Rokos feels good about what his team has accomplished and how they are likely peaking. The Buffs have a roster that is well-balanced between Nordic and Alpine, and is also deep and experienced.

CU is led by the men’s Nordic duo of senior Rune Oedegaard, who won five races this season, and sophomore Mads Stroem, who won four. When they didn’t win, they finished runner-up to each other.

“It looks like we are going there with a pretty good chance (to win it all) based on our season results,” Rokos said. “We have a very balanced team – at the end of the season, everyone on all levels proved themselves and we are skiing to our potential.”

Oedegaard is on the brink of history as the two-time defending champion in the classical race. Only seven athletes in CU history – all sports – have won three or more NCAA individual titles, with just one having done so in the same event (Jenny Barringer in the steeplechase).

The championships begin today with the Nordic freestyle races (men’s 10K, women’s 5K). The giant slalom opens the Alpine events Thursday. The Nordic classical races (women’s 15K, men’s 20K) are set for Friday, and the slalom races wrap up competition on Saturday.

Colorado won the 2013 NCAA crown with the youngest team it ever brought to the NCAAs, a team that included seven freshmen. This time, the Buffs have a much more experienced team, with nine skiers who have previously appeared in the NCAAs, and just two freshmen. CU’s depth has produced 50 top-five finishes and 92 in the top 10.

“It helps mentally, you feel like you are going with a more experienced team with people who have been exposed to the pressure of the NCAA’s,” Rokos said.

The women’s alpine unit will be represented for the third year in a row by Jessica Honkonen, Thea Grosvold and Brooke Wales Granstrom. They’re all juniors and each has won one race this season.

The men’s alpine skiers are also all juniors: Kasper Hietanen, Adam Zika and Henrik Gunnarsson. Zika, now fully recovered from a 2013 knee injury, won the NCAA giant slalom as a freshman.

Sophomore Jackson Hill joins Oedegaard and Stroem on the men’s Nordic unit

CU women’s Nordic team is led by Petra Hyncicova, a freshman who had nine top-10 finishes this. Sophomore Maja Solbakken skied in the NCAAs a year ago and had eight top 10s this year. The unit is completed with freshman Ane Johnsen, who missed the last three races of the regular season due to illness.

“Winner takes it all, and that’s why we are here,” Rokos said. “Our goal never changes, regardless of the makeup of the team, experienced or not at NCAAs. We want to leave here with a trophy. Any other finish is always a disappointment.”