Rhines attended Villanova University as an undergraduate. While at Villanova, Rhines was a five-time NCAA individual champion: 5000 meters (1994, 1995, and 1996), 5000i meters (1995), and cross country (1994). She won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top female cross country runner in 1994–95.[2][3]
As a post-collegiate professional runner, Rhines has won three USA 15K national titles (1998, 2005, 2011), a USA half-marathon championship (2011), and was the USA 10,000 meter champion on the track in 2002. She competed in the women's 10,000 meters race at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and finished 16th in her semi-final with a time of 34:08.28. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, she competed in the women's marathon and finished the race in 34th place with a time of 2:43:52.[4]
Rhines and Mahon left the Boston Athletic Association in December 2017 to start a coaching group at The Mission Athletics Club in California. As of January 2020, this has been rebranded as the Golden Coast Track Club.[10]