2025 Collegiate Road National Championships

Andy Newberry
28 April 2025

Health and Wellness General Sports

MSU Cycling team has championship aspirations

Andy Newberry
28 April 2025
2 min read

Midwestern State University hopes to have a national cycling champion crowned this week (May 2-4) in Madison, Wis., at the USA Cycling 2025 Collegiate Road National Championships.

The MSU Texas Cycling team is confident after a strong showing at the conference meet in Denton. Brody Burnham won the Men’s A category, and Gabrielle Wrightsman won the Women’s A category to give the team a sweep of individual titles.

The men's team placed four racers in the top nine (Burnham; Sebastian De Leon, third; Nicolas Martinelli, sixth; and Jadiel Moreno, ninth) even with stars Dušan Kabala and Pavle Kabala away at another race.

“It was a confidence-builder as we didn’t have our full team at the conference championship, but we are confident they can do very well working as a team,” Cycling Director Pablo Cruz Trochez said.

Juan Restrepo and Blake Keeling will also be a part of the eight-man contingent at nationals, and Cruz Trochez believes the team can work together to bring an individual championship home. The Kabala brothers and Brody have consistently shown the power and skill to break free from the pack and sprint to the top of the podium. The team will compete with four riders in the team trial on Friday, and all eight will get to participate in the road race on Saturday and the criterium, which is the final event on Sunday.

“We have the horsepower to be really competitive in the team trial – it’s a race where we have a long history of doing well,” Cruz Trochez said.

The depth of the team showed up

MSU Cycling men on the podium after conference race — Sebastian De Leon and Nicolas Martinelli represented MSU Cycling on the podium at the conference championships.

In top feature photo, Molly Hayes, Gabrielle Wrightsman, and Emma Kasza-James after the trio all finished in the top three in the South Central Collegiate Conference race.

for the South Central Collegiate Conference finals. Burnham, De Leon (third in the criterium), Martinelli, Moreno, Keeling (second in the road race), and Joaquin Traslosheros won the Men’s B conference title.

Wrightsman, Molly Hayes, and Emma Kasza-James gave MSU Texas a dominant top three in the women’s division, and all three will be going to nationals after they finished 1-2-3 in the conference season standings.

“Gabrielle, I think she’s been very consistent throughout the entire season,” Cruz Trochez said. “She has a lot of experience in team racing, very competitive, and can move to gain position. Nationals is her peak event and what she has been training and preparing for.”

For both Wrightsman and Kasza-James, it will be a Wisconsin homecoming to race in front of friends and family.

“All three of them can do well in the road race,” Cruz Trochez said. “Molly has experience at high-level events, and this event not being at altitude favors her.”