Penn gymnastics add Johanny Sotillo-Alston to coaching staff

Penn Athletics announced on Tuesday, Jan. 13 that Johanny Sotillo-Alston will join the 2026 gymnastics team staff as a volunteer assistant coach. 

Following her appointment, current assistant Zacot has now stepped up to also become the recruiting coordinator for the team. 

Formerly, Sotillo-Alston served as an assistant coach for the Air Force gymnastics team that ranked nationally at 54th for the 2025 season, closely behind Penn, who ranked at 45th. Both teams are tied in beam rankings at 45th place. In 2025, the Air Force team went 5-9 overall, with their most notable win coming against #32 Utah State. 

Prior to her coaching career, Sotillo-Alston competed on her own at the University of Iowa, where she specialized on the uneven bars and balance beam. Before that, she was a 10-time member of the Venezuelan National Team. 

As for Zacot, she is now in her fifth year of coaching at Penn. She helped lead the team to back-to-back GEC Championships in the past four years, coaching the vault and uneven bars. Zacot herself competed for Penn State, and she was a three-time winner of the program's Balance Beam Award. 

Now also as recruiting coordinator, she will oversee the construction of rosters for future teams, leading communications with potential future Quakers. 

Both join a staff led by head coach Kirsten Becker and assistant coach Mabry Craddock.