Lynn Curylo was named the program's seventh head coach on July 18, 2016.
In her first season at the helm in 2017, she took the Flames back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 after they won the regular season for the third year in a row and then captured the Horizon League Championship for the ninth time in program history. She was awarded the title of Horizon League Coach of the Year as UIC went 20-4 against conference foes, setting a program record for most league wins, and posted 35 regular-season victories for the most since 2005 (38). Seven players earned All-League honors, including Pitcher of the Year Elaine Heflin, as Heflin and Lexi Watts were also selected to the NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team.
As a UIC student-athlete, Curylo starred as an outfielder from 1994-97. She was a member of the Hall of Fame 1994 squad that posted 56 victories and made it all the way to Oklahoma City with the program’s sole Women’s College World Series berth. All told, she was an integral part of 201 victories over four years and the Flames won nearly 73 percent of the time they took the field during that era. Curylo and her UIC teammates posted an eye-popping 58-3 mark in conference play while winning one Mid-Continent Conference championship (1994) and two Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) crowns (1996 & 1997), which is now the Horizon League.
Individually, Curylo’s name remains prominently dotted throughout the UIC record book today. She was a two-time All-MCC First Team selection as an outfielder, earning back-to-back recognitions in 1996 and 1997. She played in all 80 of the team’s games in 1997, which ties Curylo for eighth on the program’s single-season list. She hit 12 triples in four seasons for the Flames, good for sixth on the all-time list. Half of those three-base hits (6) came in 1996, placing her tied for seventh on that single-season chart.
Curylo comes to UIC with a strong familiarity of the Horizon League. For the last six seasons, Curylo has served as the head coach of the Wright State Raiders. Since 2011, she was at the helm for 147 victories including 77 in Horizon League play. No other head softball coach in WSU history won more conference games than Curylo. The Raiders won 18 Horizon League games in 2016, the most in one season by any group on the diamond. The team’s 37 total victories also marked the best single-season output in program history.
In each of the last two seasons, the native Chicagoan positioned Wright State within one win of an NCAA Tournament berth by reaching the championship of the Horizon League Tournament. During her tenure five Raiders earned All-Horizon League First Team recognition, while 14 student-athletes received Second Team nods.
Prior to her arrival in Dayton, Ohio, Curylo worked for two years as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois. The Fighting Illini went 74-25 during her time in Champaign from 2009-10, and the club won 28 Big Ten games. In Curylo’s second season, Illinois won 45 games overall while posting a 16-2 mark in conference play. That group finished second at the NCAA Columbia Regional.
Curylo’s first stint as a collegiate coach came when she worked as an assistant coach at Tennessee State from 2007-08. She helped make an immediate impact on that program as the Tigers won 35 games en route to the first winning season in program history.
She cut her coaching teeth at the high school level as the head coach at Milikan High School in Long Beach, Calif., from 2001-06. Curylo was named the Coach of the Year in 2005 after the Rams won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship.
Curylo, who was born and raised a Cubs fan on Chicago’s northwest side, graduated from UIC in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. Prior to her matriculation she attended Resurrection College Prep High School in the city’s Norwood Park neighborhood. In 2015 she was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
What Others are Saying about Lynn Curylo…
Terri Sullivan
Head Coach, University of Illinois (2000-15)
Assistant Coach, UIC (1993-1999)
"Of the many special student-athletes I have had the privilege of coaching, as well as the talented people I have met in college athletics, Lynn is as competitive, driven, and hard-working as ANY of them!
"Because of such qualities, she excels at helping student-athletes realize their own potential in all areas of their lives. Lynn personally thrives on the opportunity to be challenged to be at her best, so no one EVER out-worked her as a player, and no one will as a coach!
"This unwavering enthusiasm, as well as her love of the game and passion to teach it, is contagious to everyone lucky enough to be a part of her “team”. Lynn will lead UIC with great pride into historic, championship caliber play and I know that her fellow alum, colleagues, boosters, fans, and I will be on the edge of our seats watching!"
Jim Schmidt
Athletic Director, UIC
“Bringing Lynn back to UIC was a priority. She is a rising star who has proven she can lead a program. Lynn played for a great coach at UIC in Mike McGovern at the beginning of a run of excellence that is unparalleled in our history. Her work with Coach Terri Sullivan at Illinois added to her skillset.
“Lynn Curylo has great energy and is the ultimate competitor,” said Schmidt. “UIC alumni, fans and our excellent group of returning players won’t find a more dedicated FLAME than Lynn.”
