Kaylee Arnold loves vaulting, but her zeal for gymnastics might not have been enough to sustain her this year without another force at work.

Arnold also is determined to show that she’s a tough cookie, to put it gently. That the hobbled St. Charles co-op senior gymnast still is competing, all the way to this weekend’s IHSA girls gymnastics state meet berth, is proof positive.

“It’s a little bit of both,” Arnold said of her motivation to keep competing through chronic ankle pain. “It’s kind of funny, at sectionals, after I got done competing, I had to go put on my boot, and everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. Not too many people compete in all four events and then go throw on an ankle boot. It’s kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m tough.’