Women’s cycling team enjoys growth

Andy Newberry
18 March 2025

Sports General Health and Wellness

Wisconsin rider embraces team spirit with MSU Texas Cycling

Andy Newberry
18 March 2025
2 min read

Emma Kasza-James is a very important member of a growing MSU Texas Cycling women’s team in Spring 2025.

Her forte is mountain biking, where she made immediate contributions in the fall, but she is giving all her effort to road racing this spring. And finding a team to ride with has reignited Kasza-James’ passion for the sport.

“When I was put in contact with him (MSU Cycling Director Pablo Cruz Trochez), he said you can come here and race mountain bikes,” she said. “Oh, dear, I’ve been off the bike a year. I had taken a gap year in Germany. But I put a lot of work in and did a lot of training.”

Kasza-James adapted quickly, winning the women’s Cat 1 at the Hotter’N Hell Hundred in 2024. She loves the competition and the camaraderie with her teammates.

“Something I wanted my entire life, I found here, and that was a TEAM,” she said. “A team to ride with, people who enjoy working hard for a bigger goal. It’s invigorating to be around people like that.”

Cruz Trochez is excited about how the women’s team has progressed. He believes Kasza-James, Molly Hayes,

Molly Hayes and Gabrielle Wrightsman with MSU Texas President Stacia Haynie.

Group cycling photo with president Stacia Haynie — MSU Texas President Stacia Haynie smiles and poses for a picture with 2025 MSU Cycling team. (Photo by Logan Spikes/MSU Texas)

and Gabrielle Wrightsman will perform well and make it easier to recruit more women student-athletes to the team. Kasza-James and Wrightsman are both from Wisconsin, while Hayes is a sophomore from New Zealand who won the national time trials for MSU Texas last spring.

“Emma’s main discipline is mountain biking and she did really well at road nationals (in the fall), but she has worked hard to develop her skills on the road race, too,” Cruz Trochez said. “She came with a clear mind of what she wants in the future. She’s really been a great asset for the team, not just as a rider but as a person.”

Kasza-James adapted quickly in the classrooms at Dillard College of Business Administration. She’s a double major in finance and economics with a minor in global studies. “Dillard School is a really good school for business, and hopefully, I’ll be able to graduate in a year and a half.”

She’s hoping for a business internship over the summer in Germany, which would reconnect her with her host family from her gap year.

But before that, she’ll be a teammate and try to help MSU Cycling have a great Spring 2025 season. And with nationals in Wisconsin, it will be a sort of homecoming for Kasza-James and Wrightsman.