Abplanalp Tabbed to Lead Men's Lacrosse Program
HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata College Athletics Department is pleased to announce the appointment of Dylan Abplanalp as the next Head Men's Lacrosse Coach.
"I am thrilled to welcome Dylan as the head coach of our men's lacrosse program," said Director of Athletics Nikki Ayers. "We had a very competitive pool of candidates and he really stood out from the crowd in every phase of our search process. His passion for the sport of lacrosse, clear vision for the program and relentless work ethic shone through in every conversation. Dylan has been a part of some very successful Division III programs and is no stranger to the Landmark Conference. I am excited for him to be on-campus soon!"
For the past five seasons, Abplanalp has served as the assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at Illinois Wesleyan University. During his time, the team had an overall record of 60-17, winning three College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championships, and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament three times. In 2021, they made it to the Elite 8.
He helped bring over 60 new student-athletes over his time in Bloomington while also serving as the team's defensive coordinator and goalie coach. He created scouting reports, and helped implement schemes while also contributing to the creation of practice plans. Abplanalp also led weekly academic meetings with the players to discuss their grades and other resources to help them be successful in the classroom.
"I would like to first say thank you to Nikki Ayers and the rest of the search committee for the opportunity and trust to lead the Juniata Men's Lacrosse team to new standards," said Abplanalp. "I also would like to thank Coach Iannucci and the Illinois Wesleyan Men's Lacrosse team for the incredible opportunity to be a part of a special program over the last five years. I am looking forward to building this program and leading the individuals of Juniata Men's Lacrosse in the classroom, on the field and in the community!"
Abplanalp has also worked as the Senior Regional Director at True Lacrosse, a club lacrosse program in Peoria, Illinois. He recruited over 100 kids to the program, oversaw practices, communicated all pertinent information to parents and managed the budget.
Before that, the Kent Island, Maryland native spent two years working at HoganLax in Severna Park, Maryland as the head intern. There, he oversaw all of the other interns, communicated with parents about various tournaments, created and organized college notebooks for the coaches attending the tournament, while also handling the results of the tournament before getting them posted on the web.
Abplanalp was a four-year member of the men's lacrosse team at Susquehanna, where he started all 71 games he appeared in. He was twice team captain, was a United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Honorable Mention All American (2019), and made All-South Region Third team (2018, 2019). He was named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team once (2018) and second team twice (2017, 2019). He was named the Landmark Rookie of the Year (2016), and is the career saves and career wins record holder at Susquehanna. He also is the conference record holder in career saves and career starts.
He graduated from Illinois State University in 2022 with a Master's of Science in Kinesiology and Recreation Sequence. He completed his undergraduate work at Susquehanna, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Multimedia Communications with an emphasis in Sports Media.