Distinguished MSU cyclists kick off second season with wins

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - Gabrielle Wrightsman and Emma Kasza-James are eyeing a second successful season after first place finishes at College Station this past month.

The only two riders on the MSU women’s cycling team this season originally hail from Wisconsin, and with them they bring a collaborative mindset and plenty of enthusiasm in competing, both against each other and as a team.

“We’ve learned each other pretty well,” Kasza-James said. “She knows a lot about what I’m doing and can predict a lot about what I’m going to do, and I know a lot about what she’s going to do. We know what strengths and weaknesses we have, and we can lean into that when we’re racing as a team and fighting a bigger opponent.”

The pair have excelled in collegiate cycling; Kasza-James has won the women’s CAT-1 mountain bike race at the 2024 Hotter-N Hell Hundred, and took 15th place in the 2025 Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in October.

Wrightsman earned a first-place win in the April 2025 conference road race, and took 18th in the criterium as well as 22nd in the road race on her first trip to nationals. She also won the 2025 Hotter-N Hell Hundred CAT-1 race.

“I like the competition a lot, especially nationals,” Wrightsman said. “I think it’s really nice to have a big mixture of all different backgrounds all together having the same opportunity.”

The cyclist said that she had originally convinced Kasza-James to think about going to MSU Texas after Kasza-James returned from studying abroad. She appreciates having her teammates surrounding her as she pursues her passion for cycling.

“I just really like being in an area where pretty much everyone around me bikes,” Wrightsman said. “At home, I had people like Emma, but they were an hour away. I was pretty much the only one in my town. I really enjoy being here. It’s my people!”

“She is the reason I’m here,” Kasza-James said. “She sees me as a friend and competitor and someone she wanted by her side. She got me to interview with (former MSU Cycling director Pablo Cruz Trochez), and it was a good fit. She and I have been able to race, not only against each other but with each other at every race we’ve been to.”

Nationals this year will take place in Madison, Wisconsin, which is home territory for Wrightsman.

“I think it’s going to be a good year,” Wrightsman said.