Betty A SAckett

Our thirteenth Enshrinee wasn't introduced to trapshooting until the age of 35 when Betty, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, was invited to join the 3M Trap & Skeet League while employed by 3M. Even though she had never fired a gun before, she agreed to give it a try and quickly became addicted to the challenges of the sport. The first few years of her trapshooting career consisted mainly of league shooting until she joined the ATA in 1976 and began shooting registered targets. However, it wasn't until she was relocated to Georgia that her trapshooting career began to flourish. 

Betty won her first Georgia ATA trophy competing as a resident for the first time at the 1986 Georgia State Shoot and during her 15 years as a resident, claimed the title of ATA State Lady Singles Champion a total of 12 times. In 2001, competing as a resident for the last time, she won her fourth consecutive title with a score of 198, the second highest ever recorded by a woman in Georgia. She earned State Lady High All Around honors 10 times and collected numerous State Lady Handicap and Doubles titles. She was a member of the State Team 15 consecutive years and as of her induction into the Hall of Fame has registered close to 235,000 targets. 

In 1993 Betty captured her first Grand American trophy winning the Lady Runner-up title in the Budweiser Handicap with a 98 from the 25.5 yard line. This moved her to the 27 yard line and she became the first Georgia woman and the 91st nationally to achieve this status. That same day she tied four others by breaking 100 in the Champion of Champions race but did not prevail in the shoot-off. Betty's 99 in the 1994 Champion of Champions Event put her into a tie for Lady Third with 8 others and she emerged the victor, smashing 50 in overtime to bring home her second Grand American trophy. In 1999 and 2000 she earned All American recognition honors when she was named to the Women's Second team. 

Satellite Grand awards include ATA Lady Singles Runner-up and Lady High Over All laurels during the 1993 Dixie Grand. She earned ATA Lady Runner-up honors in the Handicap Championship during the 1998 Western Grand and in 1999 claimed the ATA Lady Runner-up trophy in the Singles Championship. 

Betty's Southern Zone wins include ATA Zone Lady Singles Champion in 1991 and 1999. In 1994 her 199 in the Singles was high in Zone A and Zone Lady and tied for the Open Championship. She opted for the ATA Zone A trophy. She was Southern Zone Open Lady Singles Champion in 1995, 1998 and in 2000 settled for the Open Lady Championship after tying for Lady Zone Champion with 199 in the event and 49 in overtime. 

Betty's list of Open and Non-Resident State Shoot titles is extensive. She was the Open Lady Singles Champion 7 times in Alabama, 6 times in Tennessee, 5 times in South Carolina and earned Non-resident titles in Minnesota and Kansas. In 1997 Betty's 200 during the South Carolina Singles Championship was her first and the first ever recorded by a woman in South Carolina. 

Other major victories include the Tucson Mid-Winter Chain Shoot where she captured the Lady Singles Championship in 1997 and 2000. During the 1998 Arizona Chain shoot at Casa Grande Trap Club she won the Lady Singles Championship with a score of 200, the first recorded by a woman at that club. In 1999 she repeated as Lady Singles Champion with a score of 199 and in 2001 she won the Casa Grande Singles Championship with the lone 200. 

Betty's outstanding record of trapshooting has been truly exemplary; however, her service to the sport has been generous and cannot go without mention. She served on the Board of Directors as the 1st Alternate Delegate for 6 years, served a five-year term as a trustee for the Georgia Hall of Fame, wrote and produced the Back-Fence newsletter for several years and she designed, and maintained the GATA web page. Additionally, she served on many State Shoot committees and was always willing to lend a helping hand. 

"Trapshooting has been an integral part of my life and was especially important to me when I lived in Georgia. Now, Roger and I eagerly look forward to yet another chapter as we begin anew in Arizona." 

Enshrined September 22, 2001