AUBURN, Ala. - After garnering honorable mention All-America honors in the 100 back the night before, junior Lauren Hines returned to the water to set her second school record in as many days with a 26th-place time of 1:55.80 in the 200 portion of the event on Saturday at the NCAA Championship in Auburn, Ala.
"Lauren's performances this weekend give the program positive momentum going forward," said head coach Matt Barany. "The program will benefit from her experience on the national stage. If there is a lesson to be learned, it would be to have confidence in yourself. Her injury fractured her confidence, but she was able to recover in Buffalo and in Auburn. It showed."
Clearly in a record-setting state of mind this weekend, Hines (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) smashed her previous 200 back mark of 1:56.81 set less than a month ago at the Atlantic 10 Championship in Buffalo.
The U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier clocked a 53.20 to place eighth in consols and 16th overall on Friday at the Tigers' James E. Martin Aquatics Center. She finished fourth in her prelims heat on Friday afternoon with a time of 52.59 to reset her own school record in the event (52.76) previously established at the 2011 A-10 Championship.
Hines joins an elite group in Spider alumni Lauren Beaudreau, Katie Sieben and Jessica Witt who also qualified for the NCAA Championship during Barany's tenure, bringing the total to six Spiders representing the program on the national stage. She follows in the footsteps of Witt and former Spider Brooke Boncher in becoming the third swimmer in school history to earn All-America honors.
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