Pointers finish 8th in Sears Director's Cup standings For the second time in three years, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is among the nation's top NCAA Division 3 athletic programs. After finishing seventh two years ago, the Pointers are eighth in the final Sears Director's Cup standings, which compiles each sport's finish in NCAA tournament competition. UW-SP's 548 points put the Pointers in between seventh-place Rowan (N.J.) College's 557 and ninth-place UW-Eau Claire's 545. Williams (Mass.) won the cup for the fourth time in five years, recording 844 points. University of California-San Diego was second with 788.5, College of New Jersey took third with 702.5, St. Thomas (Minn.) was fourth with 586 and Middlebury (Vt.) finished fifth with 573.5. UW-La Crosse finished 11th with 508 and UW-Whitewater was 15th with 458.5. The Pointers were second in the April standings with 531 points. The women's track and field team was the only spring sport that added to that April total. The men's team's sixth-place finish doesn't count in the standings because the higher finish, indoor or outdoor, is included in the standings. The men's team was fourth at the indoor meet. The baseball and softball teams were one win away from advancing to the NCAA tournament and didn't count in the standings. * * * ALL-WIAC AWARD: The Pointers, after winning seven of the 19 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles, won the WIAC All-Sports Trophy. UW-SP edged UW-La Crosse by one point for the overall title. Points are awarded according to the final standings in each sport on a 9-8-7, etc. basis, 8-7-6, etc., depending on how many schools compete in each sport. UW-SP accomplished most of its success on the men's side, winning conference titles in five of the nine sports to easily claim its fourth consecutive men's All-Sports award. The Pointers also had three second-place finishes and one third-place standing. The Pointers won men's conference titles in basketball, hockey and swimming and diving. They also shared titles in football and baseball to finish with 60.5 points, which outdistanced second place La Crosse, which had 51.5 points. UW-SP won women's titles in soccer and swimming and diving to finish fifth in the standings with 53.5 points. UW-Eau Claire won the women's trophy with 63 points and La Crosse was second with 61.5 points. In the overall standings, UW-SP had 114 points to edge La Crosse with 113 points. Eau Claire was third with 97.5 points. Overall, 15 of the Pointers' 19 sports finished in the top half of the conference standings and 12 sports qualified teams or individuals for NCAA tournament competition. The Pointers also had 15 different sports nationally ranked at one point during their respective seasons. * * * PALZKILL EARNS SCHOLARSHIP: UW-SP football player Andy Palzkill has been named one of 13 NCAA Division II and III football players to earn an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. A total of 35 players across the country in all divisions are awarded the $5,000 scholarships for postgraduate study. Palzkill, a Mineral Point native, who compiled a 3.92 grade point average in Sociology, will pursue a Master's Degree in Educational Counseling at UW-Platteville. Palzkill was a Football Gazette first-team Division III All-American this past season, setting a single-season school-record and ranking eighth in Division III in interceptions with nine. * * * TRACK ACADEMIC HONORS: The UW-SP women's indoor track team has been named an All-Academic team by the United States Track Coaches Association, while the Pointers' men's team had the most individual scholar athletes of any NCAA Division III school. To qualify, teams must have a minimum 3.10 cumulative team grade point average. The Pointers' women's team had the seventh-best grade point average in the country at 3.22, which was the highest of any WIAC school. UW-SP also had a national-best six men named individual scholar athletes, along with two women's athletes. To earn individual honors, athletes must have a minimum 3.25 grade point average and have competed at the indoor national championships. Jesse Drake (Rhinelander), Craig Gunderson (Waupaca), Chris Horvat (Menomonee Falls), Josh Keim (Dalmatia, Pa.), Joel Schult (Merrill) and Dan Schwamberger (North Mankato, Minn.) were among 36 male athletes recognized. No other school had more than four athletes honored. Megan Lundahl (Sturgeon Bay) and Leah Juno (Brillion) were among 45 athletes named to the women's team after each earning All-American honors at the indoor meet.