WATERLOO - Taylor Bentley had performed the move hundreds of times on skates.

It was just a simple lunge on the ice to stretch out her legs.

Maybe her mind was on Colorado Springs, where in less than 45 minutes she was headed to compete in the 2007 Skate Games America.

But Bentley, a senior at Cedar Falls High School this year, remembers only beginning to execute the move, then crumpling to the ice with excruciating pain in her left knee.

"We just thought it was something simple like my knee cap slipping off," Bentley described. "But there was so much pain, and then we found out I chipped my femur bone, tore my patella tendon and just a whole bunch of things … basically everything you can tear or injure in a knee."

Doctors told Bentley, a standout for the Cedar Valley Figure Skating Club since she was six, she'd never skate again.

That was July 27, 2007.

Bentley, however, was determined to return to the ice.

She went through five knee surgeries and numerous other procedures, missed nearly nine weeks of school and endured upwards of two to three hours of physical therapy six days a week to rehabilitate the knee.

Her goal was to return to the ice within a year of the injury. On July 10, Bentley laced up her skates for the Cedar Valley Figure Skating Club summer camp.

Sunday, as part of a 47-skater contingent, Bentley will be one of eight soloists in the 2008 CVFSC Christmas show at 3 p.m. at Young Arena.

"I know I'll be nervous before I go out and I'll look at all the faces in the crowd and be more nervous, but its that excited energy," Bentley said. "Just to be able to get out there and skate, that will put a huge smile on my face after a really tough year.

"It's going to be really special. A lot of my friends and family are coming. I'm excited to for them to see how far I've came since being on crutches for almost five months straight."

Bentley recovered enough to be a cheerleader for the Tigers' football team this fall, but still isn't back 100 percent.

She has another doctor's appointment in Iowa City Wednesday.

"It's a checkup and hopefully everything goes well," Bentley said. "I'm still having a few problems with it, but I'm hoping it gets better over time. Really, I can live with it now compared to how it felt last year."

CVFSC director Abby Loeffelholz says Bentley has been an inspiration to the younger kids at the club.

"She's been a great role model to all of the kids," Loeffelholz said. "Taylor worked so hard to get back here and showed so much determination. You could just see it in her eyes how much she wanted it, because she wanted to be out there more than anything Sunday."

Contact Jim Nelson

at (319) 291-1521 or

jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com.