Pointer notes Cross Country For the first time ever, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UW-SP) captured the WIAC women's cross country championship on Saturday in Colfax as the Pointers had five of the top eight finishers to post the lowest team score by any team since UW-Oshkosh in 1996 with 26 points. The Titans were second with 52 points. The Pointer men's team finished second overall, giving defending national champion UW-Oshkosh a close battle before falling by a 20-point margin. It was UW-SP's highest finish since 1998. Jenna Mitchler led a balanced women's performance with a third-place finish in 22:10, marking the first time this season she has led the team. Megan Craig was fourth, while Leah Herlache was fifth and Teresa Stanley was sixth. Isabelle Delannay was eighth. Curt Johnson led the men's team by placing third. Mark LaLonde placed eighth, Adam Buchholz was ninth and Andy Bednarek was 13th. The Pointers take a week off and then return to Colfax for the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional on Nov. 15. Football (6-2 overall, 3-2 WIAC): The Pointers put up their highest point total ever against UW-Whitewater and surged to a 39-point halftime lead in a 60-30 rout over the conference's only previously undefeated team. UW-SP scored on five of its first six possessions and led 27-0 after the first quarter. Senior quarterback Scott Krause was 22-for-28 passing for 390 yards and five touchdowns, marking the third time this season he's thrown for at least five touchdowns in a game. Junior Ross Adamczak of Plover had a career day with seven catches for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Tony Romano added six catches for 86 yards and three touchdowns. Eric Reible had 96 yards on 22 rushing attempts in his first career start. Cody Childs rushed for 57 yards and caught six passes for 83 yards. The Pointers rolled up 545 yards of total offense and held the Warhawks to 241 total yards, including just 118 through the first three quarters. UW-Whitewater had 24 rushing attempts for just 26 yards. UW-SP is now one game out of first place with a 3-2 record. The Pointers are tied with UW-Eau Claire in the standings and trail UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse, who are both 4-1. The Pointers moved up eight spots to rank 14th in this week's national poll and play at UW-Platteville on Saturday. Men's Hockey (0-2 overall, 0-0 NCHA): The Pointers suffered a pair of tough losses over the weekend to NCHA opponents and play three non-conference road games this week. UW-SP lost to UW-Superior, 3-2, on Friday and then fell to UW-Eau Claire, 5-3, on Saturday. Neither game counts in the NCHA standings. It marks the first time since 1998 and second time since 1984 that the Pointers have started the season 0-2. The Pointers fell behind in both games, trailing 2-0 in the first period to UW-Superior before getting goals from Adam Kostichka of Stevens Point and Brent Halverson to tie the game. However, the Yellowjackets scored with 4:57 left in the third period for the win. UW-Eau Claire took a 4-0 lead through two periods before the Pointers fired 24 shots on goal in the third period and scored three goals. The Blugolds stopped the rally with an empty net goal with 53 seconds left. Dan McNabb, Ryan Kirchhoff and David Lee of Stevens Point all scored goals. Mike Brolsma added two assists. Women's Hockey (2-0 overall, 2-0 NCHA): It's only the first week of November, but the Pointers have already made huge strides toward recapturing the NCHA regular season title after posting a pair of wins at defending champion and fourth-ranked UW-River Falls last weekend. UW-SP, ranked seventh nationally, won, 4-1 and 3-2, over the Falcons, who handed the Pointers three of their five losses and a tie last season. Ann Ninnemann scored goals in each game, including the game-winner 4:16 into the third period on Saturday. Hilary Bulger finished with three assists for the weekend and assisted the game-winning goal in both games. Jackie Schmitt, Liz Goergen and Emily Teachout all had a goal and an assist in the sweep. Amy Statz was the winning goaltender in each game, posting 19 saves on Friday and 36 saves on Saturday. The Pointers host defending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion and 10th-ranked St. Thomas in their home opener on Saturday. Soccer (12-3-3 overall, 5-1-2 WIAC): UW-SP clinched a spot in the WIAC tournament with a 0-0 tie at UW-Whitewater last week and will go for its seventh-straight tournament title this weekend in River Falls. The Pointers, who are 30-1 all-time in WIAC postseason matches, are the No. 2 seed and take on third-seeded UW-La Crosse on Friday at 2 pm. Top seed UW-River Falls meets fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh in the other semifinal on Friday at 11 am. The title match is set for Saturday at 1 pm. UW-SP clinched a spot in the tournament with its third scoreless tie of the season on Wednesday at Whitewater. The Pointers outshot the Warhawks 14-3 and Melissa Meister made two saves to preserve the shutout as the Pointers allowed only two goals in eight conference matches this season. UW-SP closed out the regular season on Sunday with a 4-1 win at Gustavus Adolphus. Melissa Becker scored two goals, while Kim Reese of Stevens Point and Kelly Fink each added goals. Jenny Bruce had two assists to become the ninth player in NCAA Division III history to reach 50 career goals and 50 career assists. She now has 52 goals and 51 assists in her four seasons. Swimming and Diving (Men and women both 2-0 in duals): The Pointer men's and women's teams will both take on Division II St. Cloud State in a dual meet on Saturday, while the women's team will also face Northern Michigan in a double-dual at St. Cloud. UW-SP is 2-0 in WIAC duals after easily defeating UW-Eau Claire at home on Friday. The men posted a 190-44 win, while the women won, 165-78. Matt Grunwald won three events, capturing the 200 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and the 500 freestyle. Aaron Marshall claimed the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle. He also swam on the winning 200 freestyle relay. Alex Anderson won the 100 breaststroke and swam on the winning 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay. Garth Newport was on the medley relay and won the 200 individual medley, while Travis Wolf was also on the medley relay and won the 100 backstroke. For the women's team, Alissa Colbert was victorious in the 1,650 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. Lindsay Correll won the 100 butterfly and swam on the winning 200 medley relay. Alissa Bartz and Erica Janssen swam on both the medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay that won. Volleyball (11-23 overall, 1-7 WIAC): The Pointers wrapped up their season on Saturday with a win over Northland, 30-15, 30-26, 30-26, and a loss to UW-Superior, 22-30, 30-25, 30-22, 33-31, in a home triangular. Kelli Rydeen and Jessica Parker both had 17 kills and Toni Johnson of Plover added 51 assists in the loss to UW-Superior. Kim Palmiteer added 16 digs. Nichole Stahovich and Parker each totaled six kills in the win over Northland. Lori Marten added 12 digs. Wrestling Coming off their highest-ever national finish at third place, the Pointers open the season on Saturday with the annual Pointer Open in the indoor track area of the Multi-Activity Center. The Pointers are ranked ninth in the NCAA Division III preseason rankings. Defending national champion Cody Koenig is the nation's top-ranked 174-pounder and Yan White is the top-ranked 197-pounder. Brady Holtz is ranked fourth at 133 pounds. Saturday's meet begins at 9 a.m. and runs all day.