USA Gymnastics

Megan Felger is so supportive of her sport - gymnastics - that sometimes her coaches see her cheering on the other teams and wonder, facetiously, if she's really competitive enough.

But the cheerleading, leadership spirit in Felger is an integral part of the success of the Carroll gymnastics team, which has put up the 13th-best score in the state, 105.7, heading into today's sectional at Concordia.

"She's just so friendly. She's just a joy, laid back, and she doesn't let anything bother her. She's very encouraging to the other teammates," Chargers coach Rosemary Scheele said.

Felger, a senior, is one of two Carroll gymnasts, along with Morgan Moehle, who will compete in the all-around at Concordia. Felger has scored as high as 35.5 this season - the 34th-best score in the state - while Moehle had 34.45.

The Concordia Sectional is competitive, as it has state champion and second-ranked Bishop Dwenger, 15th-ranked Carroll and always strong Northrop, Snider and Homestead.

As in any meet, the key for the Chargers will be making sure that they don't let mistakes drag them down. That's where Felger's positive attitude comes in.

"Even if I'm not having one of my best days, I try to go out there and make everyone else happy and laugh, and I just encourage them and say, `Hey, you're doing OK,' because if the team isn't happy then we're not going to perform the best that we can," Felger said.

"We need to be feeling the best that we can. If somebody has an off meet or falls, I like to say, `Hey, shake it off. We've got other events and we're still doing fine.' "

Felger's scores are integral to the team, so sometimes she has to follow her own advice and not get bogged down in obsessing over some small error.

"The team is what comes first," she said. "You want to do well individually, but at theof the day, it's for your team."

Felger's best event is probably the vault and she does sometimes find herself having to shake off mistakes; she's been doing the same vault for years, always wanting to perfect it.

"Sometimes I'll get a block on it, and I won't flip them (correctly), or I won't do it the best that I know that I can," she said. "I want to make it the best that I can before I move on."

The Chargers have a strong team with Carrie Ferguson, Briley Hogle, Kendall Isenbarger, Sydney Ulrey and Chelsea Fischer.

They need to finish in the top three to advance beyond tonight.

"This is a team that just gets along so well," Scheele said. "We don't have any conflicts. They're all friends. It's a gymnastics family and they support each other. They help each other. It's really nice and it's been a pleasure with them this year, and hopefully they can continue and get through sectionals and go further."

jcohn@jg.net

Sectionals

Today

Concordia, 5:30 p.m.

Teams: Carroll, Bishop Dwenger, Bishop Luers, Concordia, North Side, Northrop, Snider, South Side, Wayne, Heritage, Homestead

Saturday

Wawasee, 11 a.m.

Teams: Angola, DeKalb, East Noble, Elkhart Central, Hamilton, Lakeland, Plymouth, Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw, Wawasee, West Noble

Muncie Central, TBA

Teams: Cowan, Huntington North, Jay County, Marion, Muncie Central, Muncie Southside, Southwood, Turkey Run