BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Colorado senior Maria Grevsgaard won the women's 5K freestyle race at the NCAA championships Wednesday to help the Buffs grab the team lead after the first day of competition.

Grevsgaard dominated in winning with a time of 17 minutes, 9.8 seconds. She beat teammate Lenka Palanova, who finished in 17:34.0 for a 1-2 finish in the 5K freestyle for the Buffs.

"Getting my first NCAA win feels really good," Grevsgaard said. "It's amazing that Lenka and I were able to finish one-two. It's the first race of NCAAsand we made up a lot of points, so it's just a good start."

Grevsgaard added to her school record for wins, as the victory was the 18th of her career. She is a junior in eligibility and plans on returning next winter for a fourth season.

Grevsgaard became the fifth CU woman to be crowned an NCAA champion in the freestyle, joining Annette Skjolden (1992), Line Selnes (1998), Katka Hanusova (2000) and Jana Rehemaa (2006). Selnes owns the CU single-season win record of 11, all in her only year in the program, and Grevsgaard has a chance to tie it in Friday's classical race.

"I felt really good on the course," Grevsgaard said. "You always get a feel for how you are doing on the first (kilometer) and I just started feeling better and better. I just focused on skiing and pushing hard the whole way.

In the men's 10K freestyle, CU's Jesper Ostensen was third with a time of 31:03.2. Dartmouth's Glenn Randall won in 30:37.3.

Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association and west regional champion, scored 186 points to zoom to the top of the team standings through two of the eight events here.

Northern Michigan, the central champ, was second with 153 points, but does not compete in alpine and won't directly factor in the title hunt. Dartmouth, the defending NCAA champion and the eastern region titlist, was in a third-place tie with Middlebury and Denver, all with 141 points.

The Buffs did not qualify a full 12-skier team, coming up one men's alpine skier short, but the Nordic team built a solid cushion for their counterparts with Wednesday's efforts. Only Dartmouth, Middlebury and Utah have full teams competing, with Denver the only other with 11.

"We have a solid cushion right now, but there is nothing solid in concrete," CU head coach Richard Rokos said.

NCAA championships

Teams -- 1. Colorado 185; 2. Northern Michigan 153; 3. (tie) Dartmouth, Denver, Middlebury 141; 6. Utah 140; 7. Alaska-Fairbanks 135; 8. New Mexico 98; 9. Colby 62; 10. Alaska-Anchorage 57; 11. Nevada 51; 12. Vermont 50; 13. Montana State 46; 14. Bates 36; 15. Williams 28; 16. New Hampshire 20; 17. Michigan Tech 15; 18. Wisconsin-Green Bay 14; 19. Gustavus Adolphus 13; 20. Whitman 7; 21. St. Scholastica 0.

Women's 5K Freestyle -- 1. Maria Grevsgaard, CU, 17:09.8; 2. Lenka Palanova, CU, 17:34.0; 3. Annelise Bailly, DU, 17:36.9; 4. Alexa Turzian, Midd., 17:58.0; 5. Morgan Smyth, NMU, 18:01.1; 6. Rosie Brennan, Dart., 18:03.3; 7. Laura DeWitt, NMU, 18:06.0; 8. Polina Ermoshina, UNM, 18:06.6; 9. Anna Coulter, UAF, 18:09.1; 10. Antje Maempel, DU, 18:15.4. Other CU/Area Finishers: 20. Karoline Borgnes, CU, 19:18.4.

Men's 10K Freestyle -- 1. Glenn Randall, Dart., 30:37.3; 2. Marius Korthauer, UAF, 30:48.3; 3. Jesper Ostensen, CU, 31:03:2; 4. Sylvan Ellefson, Bates, 31:20.0; 5. Rene Reisshauer, DU, 31:22.6; 6. Even Sletten, Utah, 31:24.3; 7. John Stene, DU, 31:26.4; 8. Vahur Teppan, UAF, 31:27.4; 9. Andy Liebner, UAA, 31:27.6; 10. Snorri Einarsson, Utah, 31:37.2. Other CU/Area Results: 11. Kit Richmond, CU, 31:43.1; 17. Matt Gelso, CU, 32:22.5; 34, Haavard Selseng, DU, 33:48.2.