Cooper Headlines Record All-WHAC Haul for TU Men’s Lacrosse
UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor men's lacrosse team placed a trio of student-athletes on the 2025 All-WHAC Second-Team and collected a total of 14 postseason awards from the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference on Wednesday.
Freshman Henry Cooper was named the WHAC Newcomer of the Year and also earned a spot on the All-WHAC Second-Team, along with fellow Trojans Jackson Dale and Lucas Pacer. Cooper's Newcomer of the Year nod is the first for the Taylor men's lacrosse program, while the three All-WHAC awards are the most ever collected for the young seventh-year program.
Cooper made an immediate impact with seven unassisted goals at No. 2 Webber International in his collegiate debut and went on to lead Taylor with 40 goals and 79 shots on goal during his rookie season. The freshman also ranked third on the Taylor squad with 10 assists and 50 points, while ranking 10th in the WHAC and 21st in the NAIA in goals scored and 16th in the WHAC in points. Those stats led to Cooper being voted the WHAC Newcomer of the Year and being named a Second-Team All-WHAC selection.
Dale was also named a Second-Team All-WHAC performer for his first postseason honor, after pacing the Trojans with 60 points during his sophomore season. Dale finished with 34 goals and led the team with 26 assists and those 60 points, setting career-highs across the board. Dale ranked fifth in the WHAC and 15th in the NAIA in assists and was top-15 in the WHAC in goals, assists and points.
Pacer also collected his first postseason recognition and was TU's third player to earn Second-Team All-WHAC honors after posting a career year in his third season on the Trojan defense. The junior led Taylor with 71 ground balls and finished second with 24 caused turnovers, ending among the top-10 players in the WHAC and the top-20 players in the NAIA in each statistic.
The WHAC also announced its Champions of Character Team, with Trace Muylle serving as Taylor's representative on that list. The Champions of Character awards are designed to recognize one athlete from each team that best models the NAIA's five core character values of respect, integrity, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership.
In addition to the All-WHAC and WHAC Champions of Character honors, the Academic All-WHAC awards were announced, celebrating student-athletes from the league who have reached sophomore status academically with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.25 and at least one full year at their current institution. Taylor posted a program-record nine Academic All-WHAC honors, with James Proodian, Dale, Grant Elzinga, Ben Harrell, Will Vanderkodde, Jack Kaiser, Muylle, Casey Bane and Kyle Schug making the list.
The record number of All-WHAC and Academic All-WHAC awards for the Taylor men's lacrosse program come on the heels of the most successful season in program history. During the recently completed 2025 campaign, Taylor posted its best start and highest win total on the way to qualifying for postseason play for the second time in program history.
The RV Trojans (7-8) look poised to build on that momentum in 2026, returning 23-of-27 members from its roster, including eight-of-10 starters. That group looks to be led once again by returning All-WHAC standouts Cooper, Dale and Pacer.