May 12, 2003

By Mike Sorensen
Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY - Amy Hackett has usually operated in the background while performing her duties the past seven years as associate athletic director at the University of Utah, where she has overseen 11 of Utah's 19 varsity sports.

Soon she'll be right smack in the spotlight as the athletic director at the University of Puget Sound, a NCAA Division III school in Tacoma, Wash.

Hackett was chosen from a field of 70 candidates to be the A.D. She begins her duties July 1 as one of a few women athletic directors in the country.

"It will be a good opportunity to be able to run my own department," said Hackett, who came to Utah in 1996. "There will be different types of challenges from Utah. There's not a great deal of administrative support, so it will be more hands-on duties."

Puget Sound is a small liberal arts college with non-scholarship athletes. At one time it was a Division II school and then went to NAIA before recently moving to Division III with other schools in the Northwest Conference. Hackett will oversee 23 varsity sports with an annual budget of $500,000.

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