Lucie Zikova speeds down mountains with precision and grace. Maria Grevsgard powers through all types of terrain with determination and grit.

When skis aren't under their feet, they're often together laughing and building a friendship that will likely last well beyond their days on the Colorado ski team. And neither will soon be forgotten in Boulder.

The seniors each have an opportunity this weekend at the Western State Invitational in Gunnison to tie one of the most prestigious records in CU skiing. Both have won 12 races in their respective disciplines in their careers. The program record for men and women was set at 13 career victories in 1990 by former men's nordic standout Per Kare Jakobsen. With roughly half the season still to come, the pair could blow by Jakobsen and set the bar significantly higher for future challengers.

"It happens once in awhile that a program has an individual who is capable of performing at a high level over a long period of time," CU ski coach Richard Rokos said. "We are fortunate to have two at the same time."

Grevsgard is a third-year team captain and two-time All-American from Geilo, Norway, and Zikova has been an All-American the past three seasons after Rokos recruited her from Prague, Czech Republic. Both have done nearly everything Rokos has asked of them on skis while simultaneously achieving almost a straight-A record in the classroom."They always feel and think positively," Rokos said. "It's hard to see them without smiles. It's a sort of role-model personality for top performance."

Grevsgard has won four consecutive nordic races for the first time in her career. The school record is eight straight. She has won those races rather easily with her nearest competition trailing by at least 30 seconds. Her most recent victory two weeks ago in the CU Invitational was a dominating performance in which she finished 80 seconds ahead of Polina Ermoshina of New Mexico.

"No one else can even match her," Rokos said.

Zikova won the national championship in giant slalom as a freshman in 2005 and has earned 10 first-place finishes in the past two seasons. She has yet to win a race this season, but she feels good about the way she is skiing going into this weekend.

Zikova said it would be fitting if she and Grevsgard could finish their careers tied atop the career wins list.

"Last time we talked about it we just laughed about it," she said. "We were wondering if we could hold hands and break the record together."

Rokos said both women are extremely focused, but Zikova can least afford mistakes. In alpine races, competition lasts less than 2 minutes and one slip up can cost a skier dearly. Grevsgard can usually recover from small errors because her races last 30 minutes or more.

Zikova said there is no competition with her friend and teammate to break the record first or to finish with the most victories. She said her and Grevsgard have no rivalry because they don't compete in the same events.

But that doesn't mean they don't feed off each other and learn from one another.

"I think success breeds success," Zikova said. "When somebody on the team is doing well it makes others do well, too."