Amy Donaldson, Service HS, Alaska '86

Graduated from the Snow College and the University of Utah. Began working at the Deseret Morning News as an intern in January 1991, during the Gulf War. In August, I was hired to cover the night police beat, as well as Murray and Jordan Education beats. Over eight years, I covered suburban police departments, crime, corrections (adult and youth), city and county government (six months) and minority issues. In 1998 I quit to be a stay-at-home mom and write a book.

My youngest daughter was born a year later with a heart defect that required open heart surgery and, as my husband is self-employed, I went back to work so we would have insurance. One of my old bosses was in sports and he suggested I give it a try. I did, a tennis tournament and then a golf tournament, and I loved it.

I finished my first project, about black athletes in Utah, before I began working full-time. I began covering girls high school sports in earnest in March of 2000, just a few weeks before my daughter, Daphne, then 11 months, had open heart surgery. I may have come back for the insurance, but it's the girls I cover that keep me working everyday. They're gracious, hard-working and always interesting to cover, and I appreciate them, their families and the coaches who make my coverage possible and teach me something amazing every time I pick up my pen.

 I have four step-children - Ed Patrick (28) and his wife Audrey (28), Jill (26), Matt (24) and Zac (17) - and two daughters - Rachel, 14, and Daphne 9. My husband Ed is an attorney, and more importantly, the world's greatest soccer dad. I have two dogs, two horses and a cat, who thinks he's a dog.