Sports Digest

Hodag Hoops senior Devon Feck earns honorable mention all-state

    Devon Feck
  

Rhinelander High School senior Devon Feck was named honorable mention All-State in Division 2 by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association on Tuesday. 

Feck was one of 25 players overall to receive honors in D2 — 12 were named all-state and another 13 received honorable mention. 

Feck was a unanimous first-team all-conference selection in the Great Northern this winter and shared player of the year honors in the league with Mylo Albrecht of Northland Pines. Feck led the Hodags averaging 19.7 points and 5.2 assists per game.

Feck’s 46.9-percent 3-point efficient was the third best in Division 2 and nearly earned him a spot in the WIAA’s 3-point challenge held during last week’s boys’ state tournament. The top two in 3-point percentage from each division qualified. 

The Hodags went 22-4 on the season, won a share of the Great Northern Conference title and advanced to the regional final round of the WIAA tournament. 

RHS alum Joe Schneider earns WIAC pitcher of the week honors

Joe Schneider, a 2022 Rhinelander High School graduate and senior on the UW-Stevens Point baseball team, was named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s pitcher of the week for March 16-22, the conference announced on Tuesday. 

In its release, the WIAC noted Schneider went 2-0 in a pair of relief appearances at the RussMatt Invitational. He struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings and held opposing hitters to a .095 average.

So far this season Schneider has made four relief appearances for Pointers, has a 2-1 record and has yet to allow an earned run. The Pointers (6-4) open WIAC play Saturday and Sunday with a pair of doubleheaders at UW-Whitewater.

Retzlaff nabs Darlington top 10

Rhinelander native Parker Retzlaff scored his second top-10 finish of the season in NASCAR’s second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Saturday, March 21 as he placed eighth in a 200-miler at Darlington, S.C.

Following a fifth-place qualifying effort, Retzlaff had his No. 99 Chevrolet for Viking Motorsports in the top 10 most of the day. He placed fifth in Stage 1 of the race and sixth in Stage 2. His 40 points were the fourth-most scored by any driver in the race. It marked Retzlaff’s first career top-10 finish on the notoriously tricky 1.366-mile oval.

“Good weekend for this #99 group bringing it home P8. Had a bad fast race car right off the truck for practice and built from there,” Retzlaff posted on social media after the race. “Wish we had a few more laps to capture some more spots. Proud of the efforts from @vkngmotorsports these last few weeks.”

Retzlaff, who also scored a runner-up finish Feb. 21 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Ga., is off to a strong start through six races. He sits ninth in O’Reilly Series points, 50 points ahead of 13th-place William Sawalich. The top 12 in the points following the first 24 races will qualify for the nine-race season-ending chase for the championship.

The series is back in action Saturday, March 28 with a 250-lap race at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Va.