Shannon Dey's career as a cheerleader with the Kansas City Chiefs was done, leaving her with a void that caused unbearable boredom.

Using her skills as an exercise physiologist was fulfilling, but she missed the sidelines, the glamour, the glitz and the cheering crowds.

She considered entering fitness competitions for a while before approaching former bodybuilder Rob Rosetti for advice.

"I was amazed because ... she didn't come close to resembling what a fitness competitor should look like," said Rosetti, sitting in the gym at Legends Fitness Club, where Dey trains. "She had no gymnastics background and, at the time, that was primarily the stepping stone for a girl competing in fitness. ... I said, 'Well, you have a long way to go.'"

So he thought. Three years and with five competitions later, Dey is a champion. She won the Tall Division at the U.S. National Fitness Championships recently in Miami to earn an International Federation of Bodybuilding pro card, which makes her eligible for the highest level of competition.

"I just about had a heart attack," said Dey, who moved to Tallahassee from her hometown, Olathe, Kan., five years ago. "When they called my number, I had to look down (at the number tag). I couldn't believe it."

Dey, 5-foot-6, got the nod over a field of 17 other women in the division. She was especially strong in the strength routine phase of the three-part contest, using a mesh of her dancing ability and strength techniques she learned from Rosetti.

"She's one of those people who looked real professional from the beginning," said Pat Sporer, a judge with the National Physique Committee, which sanctioned the contest. "She had a certain charisma about her (and) timely execution. Those are the kind of things that made her stand out."

She also stood out because of her long hours of training, sometimes splitting two-hour shifts between her duties as CFO at Legends. Rosetti is CEO of that gym.

Dey choreographed all of her routines, using skills she developed while dancing for the University of Kansas Crimson Girls during the early 1990s. Her victory was one for women over 30 years old, said Dey, 33.

"I hope that I can inspire women over 30 to show them that you don't have to be 20 years old in order to have a good physique," said Dey, who placed 14th on her first try for a pro card two years ago. "You can be in your 30s and look great."

By gaining pro status, Dey will be paid for competing. The paydays won't be much, she said, but she'll make much more than she did during her five seasons (1993-97) as a cheerleader with the Chiefs.

She was paid $20 per game - the salary that NFL cheerleaders made at the time - for her first three years cheering the Chiefs. She got a pay hike to $50 per game when she became team captain, a position she held during her last two seasons.

The job wasn't easy to keep, either. Each of the cheerleaders had to try out every year to remain on the sidelines. As many as 300 girls vied for 32 spots, she said.

Dey said she succeeded as a cheerleader by using a simple strategy - staying focused on her performance and not the competition. She's succeeding with the same game plan as a fitness competitor, too.

"I just go in there and do my thing," she said. "Before I go on stage, I try to focus on the moment. When I go out, I enjoy the moment and have fun. ... I don't have a competitive aura about me. It's more of 'I'm so blessed to be here.'"

Her rise through the pro ranks will be determined by how many appearances she can make. She'll have to be invited to the shows, though.

She's already sent off her resume to promoters of shows in Dallas, New York and states in between. Although there's a good chance she might be invited to the shows, she doesn't know when she'll make her pro debut.

But whenever the time comes, she'll be ready. It's only natural, she said.

"There are certain things that we are predisposed to do," she said. "I'm not predisposed to being a basketball player. I feel if there is something you have a natural talent in, it's only a matter of how hard you want to work. At this point, I'm working extremely hard."