This year has brought many changes to the NCAA gymnastics world, especially in coaching staffs.

UCLA alumna Kristina Comforte was announced as the new assistant coach at Illinois on Sept. 14. Comforte serves as the Illini's vault and floor coach and is responsible for most of the team's choreography.

Her hiring comes after the departure of Chad Wiest, who was hired over the summer as an assistant coach at Washington.

The Illini women's gymnasts were without a main vault and floor coach for months, but after an "extensive search," head coach Kim Landrus welcomed Comforte.

I just wanted to make sure that whoever I got was a really good fit for our program and would be able to be not only a very technically sound coach but also be a great motivator that would be able to understand the student-athlete. I think Kristina brings all of that to the table.

Comforte, a former elite gymnast, was an undergraduate assistant coach at UCLA for two years and loved it, feeling that she was was able to make a difference. After graduating in 2010, she took a break from the sport, working in a sports agency for three years. But eventually, she realized "sitting behind a desk all day" wasn't for her and returned to gymnastics as a coach.

When she began coaching club gymnastics, she always knew she wanted to return to the NCAA as a coach because of her passion for NCAA gymnastics.

It meant a lot to me, not just as an athlete but as a person, and I wanted to give back what I learned through my experience and give that to student athletes. I just love what we can teach them beyond gymnastics as they're growing through college.

So when a coaching position at Illinois became available, it was an opportunity the former Illinois Gymnastics Institute gymnast couldn't pass up.

Illinois is so close to home, and it's such a great ― not just athletic institution but academics as well. It was a perfect fit for me.

Comforte has now officially been working with the team for about a month and has "no complaints."

I'm enjoying myself and enjoying the girls, so it's been a smooth transition. Everything's been wonderful.

And the gymnasts agree, regardless of how long they've been at Illinois.


Before competing against Iowa, Erin Buchanan does a dance-through of her floor routine.

Senior Erin Buchanan has worked with Wiest on vault and floor, which are her strongest events, all three years she's competed for Illinois, so having Comforte as a coach would require an adjustment, especially in her final year as an Illini gymnast. But Buchanan has welcomed the former UCLA gymnast and has enjoyed the fresh, new perspective Comforte brings.

She has exceeded our expectations in so many different ways. Of course it's a change, but it's been nothing but a positive change for us.

When freshman Rae Balthazor committed to and visited Illinois, Comforte was not part of the program. Comforte also wasn't on campus during the summer when Balthazor began her Illini career. Regardless, Balthazor thinks Comforte is "a great addition to the coaching staff."

She pushes us pretty hard. And I can just tell that it's for our best, and she wants to encourage us and make us confident in what we do.

Of course, every new opportunity comes with challenges. Illinois was not as strong as it would have liked to be on vault last season, averaging a 48.742. The Illini had no vaults with a 10.0 start value and did not use a full lineup of all 9.95 vaults, so Comforte is tasked with the job of strengthening the vault lineup.

I want to make sure that every time they go into a competition, they're super confident with themselves and their vaults and making sure that every time we put up a lineup we're confident in them and they're confident in themselves so they can land it no problem. And it starts now.

Once she began her role as the Illini's vault and floor coach, Comforte immediately noticed where the vaults needed to improve. She started with running drills to help the gymnasts improve their runs in order to develop more power. Comforte said the gymnasts will then move onto the entry, the block, and the landing.

It's taking one step at a time so that by the time January comes, they don't have to worry so much about just landing the vault. They can worry more about the details. That's pretty much my goal for this year, and when you know you're going to make it, you can focus on the details. Then it will reflect in the scores.

Another major focus Comforte has for her first year at Illinois is choreography. As a UCLA alum, Comforte has first-hand experience with Miss Val's renowned choreography, which is full of expression, character, and originality. Comforte was also teammates with great dancers such as Ariana Berlin.

When Comforte arrived on the Urbana-Champaign campus to begin her new coaching job, Landrus noted the Illini's gymnasts were eager to improve their choreography.

The girls have really embraced her talent and choreography and creativity, so I think they're really excited. So much of the sport, you have to have such passion and excitement to bring out the best in each athlete, and I think that them watching her do the choreography has just really lit that spark.

Comforte will work with the ladies on their expressions in floor routines, so both the dance and facial expressions look exceptional.

Comforte said she wants to make sure "it's not just the dance that looks good, but it's their face and the way they carry themselves because that's just as important in college as landings or passes."

That's what's going to set them apart.

While routines, skills, and technique are important aspects to focus on as a coach, developing relationships with the gymnasts and connecting with them is equally as important.

Both Buchanan and Balthazor have emphasized how Comforte's previous experience as an NCAA gymnast has helped them connect with and work with her.

Everything makes sense, and she always has the reasoning behind it because she did it. It's also really cool to look up to her and her gymnastics, and it's always cool to hear her stories and use that as motivation, too.

Comforte knows her first year as an NCAA coach can set the tone for the future. She has set coaching goals for herself and for what she wants to see from the team after the 2017 season is over.

I want to see that I make a difference. I want to have an impact on them as student-athletes, so I want to see that I'm helping with their confidence and how they feel about themselves when they compete and in the gym.

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