MSU Cyclists shine in home event

Andy Newberry
02 October 2025

Student Life Sports General

MSU Cycling dominates event honoring Tim Kelton

Andy Newberry
02 October 2025
2 min read

The Midwestern State Cycling Team put on a dominant display September 27-28 at the Tim Kelton Memorial Mountain Bike Race.

The race holds a special place in the hearts of the riders and the community as it honors the memory of Tim Kelton, who was the first mountain bike racer in MSU Cycling history.

Other teams in attendance were conference rivals Texas A&M and Hardin-Simmons. The weekend consisted of an opening individual time-trial and short track race held Saturday. The student-athletes closed out the weekend by competing in the cross country event on Sunday. 

On the women's side, MSU’s Emma Kasza-James and Gabby Wrightsman made a formidable duo that saw them each climb onto the podium on multiple occasions. For the men, Blake Keeling, Mauri Maldonado, and Cole Barrera led the stampede for the Mustangs. 

Riders Romain Gireme and Anthony Antunez also turned in impressive performances as they continue to improve and add depth to the already strong MSU mountain bike team. Some of the riders will be heading to compete at Collegiate Nationals from October 9-12.

The Mustangs will be back to local action at Texas A&M on October 25-26, they and will finish out the mountain bike season competing at Hardin-Simmons University on November 15-16. 

MSU cyclist goes through woods

Keeling, Maldonado, Kasza-James ride strong at Texas State event

Keeling and Maldonado tied for first in the event total recently at Texas State University’s mountain bike event, while Kasza-James won all three women’s events and the overall total. Wrightsman took second in the Women’s A behind her teammate.

Keeling was first in the criterium, second in the time trial, and second in the road race, while Maldonado won the road race and was second in the other two events. Barrera was third, and Sebastian De Leon was fourth to give MSU a sweep of the top four spots. Gireme and Antunez showed the depth of the team by going 1-2 in the Men’s B division.

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MSU Cylists come up a dusty trail in the woods

CYCLING COLLEGIATE NATIONALS

The Midwestern Cycling Team is proud to announce that they will have five athletes competing at the Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships to be held in Grand Junction, Colorado, October 9-12. These athletes qualified for the championships by earning points throughout the season, where they competed against other schools in the South Central Cycling Collegiate Conference (SCCC).
The Mustangs are also firmly in control of the Team Competition in the conference, with a total of 3,718 points over second-place Texas A&M with 3,368. There are two more conference races on the calendar at Texas A&M (October 25-26) and Hardin Simmons University (November 15-16).

The student-athletes who will be representing the Midwestern State University Mustangs at Nationals:
Men: Blake Keeling, Mauri Maldonado, Cole Barrera
Women: Emma Kasza-James, Gabby Wrightsman