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Tullahoma has many accomplished athletes but one of the most accomplished was 2022 Sports Hall of Fame inductee Phyllis Hines who passed away earlier this month.

Hines was a standout in Track and Field, Cross Country and Cycling. She was a 1979 graduate of Tullahoma High School. While at THS Hines was the State Runner-up in Cross Country in the 1976 season. She was the State Champion in 1977 for Cross Country. Hines was the 1978 State Runner-up for the mile run with a time of five minutes and 7.9 seconds and finished eighth at State in Cross Country that year as well.

Hines continued her athletic career at Vanderbilt in the early 1980s running Cross Country before leaving school early to train for the 1984 Olympic marathon. While running in the 1983 New York City Marathon to qualify for the 1984 Olympic Trials, she tore tendons in her left foot and hobbled eight miles to the finish line. To maintain fitness, she took to cycling after moving to Atlanta. By 1985, she was a permanent fixture on the US Women’s Cycling Team, competing in the women’s Tour de France and other international races. In 1982, the US women’s team won the women’s Tour de France. In 1988, Phyllis won three of the six events in the Olympic Trials.

Some of Hines other accomplishments were being the 1986 Cycling Tour de l’Aude Champion, a competition in France. Hines was a part of the 1988 third place team Women’s Cycling World Championships. That same year she set the 40K record at the U.S. Cycling Championships by covering 24 miles in 55:26.44. Hines beat the old record by more than 20 seconds. The Nationals were held for the first time in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic trials. There was no women’s team time trial in the Olympics in Seoul so this was only for the National Championships.

Hines was a part of the 1990 second place Women’s cycling team at World Championships and the 1991 fourth place team. In 1995 the US Olympic committee mad the 40K an Olympic event, so in August of 1995 Phyllis set a new national record for the time trial of 52:50.23. That set her up for a spot on the 1996 US Olympic Team, but during the Olympic trials in Pittsburgh, PA, she suffered serious injuries that ended her career as a professional cyclist.

In 2002 she discovered she had NCAA eligibility left and returned to competition. She finished eighth in the Division III Nationals and her opponents mentioned that she was as old as their mothers, Hines responded to that saying, “I think it’s funny!”

After her competition days were over Hines became an outdoors person who enjoyed hiking and mountain biking. She spent lots of time with the PATH foundation, which is transforming the Metro Atlanta area into the most trail connected city in the United States.