Kirkendahl, Shae

From Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki

Shayna Kirkendahl,^PUTP1 better known as Shae was a member of the class of 1988 at Bradford High School. While her whole family is tall, at 6' 8", she is strikingly tall, with blonde hair.^PUTP20 Her father is Mike Kirkendahl (6'5") and the distribution manager at General Hardware Retailers when Shae was in High School. Her mother is Joyce and at 6'2" taught her daughter to stand straight in pride.^GM4 She also has a brother, Mike Junior, and a sister Michelle.

With her height, it was no surprise she played basketball in high school and actively recruited by colleges. Shae and her best friend Denis Riley attended Ball State University from 1988 to 1992. Shae found her high school rival, Tawana Patterson, had joined her at BSU and these two formed the core of the BSU team, winning the MAC conference championship and earning a NCAA tournament invitation. The team made the Sweet Sixteen in 1989 and the Final Four in 1990. After Tawana's injury in a drive-by shooting in Detroit, the team never recovered from the loss of their main shooter.^GM20

Shae wasn't a good enough shooter to make it as a WNBA (Womens National Basketball Association) pro. She ended up in broadcasting, where her height put her at an advantage when interviewing basketball players. In 1998, she was working for the World Sports Network in New York, covering the WNBA and other sports. Sister networks to her WSN include WNN and CTN and all share offices in the same building, which led to her being cast as a gentle giantess in the kids' show Charley's House. Over time, the show was transformed into Avalon with Shaella Sunrise in a prominent role.^PUTP2

Shae lived in Staten Island in an apartment with higher counters and taller doorways originally modified by a former New York Nets basketball player.^PUTP2

Shae started an intimate relationship with Dave Patterson in late 2001. By June 2002, she and Dave were planning a marriage, and Shae was pregnant.^PUTP42