North Andover's Kirsten Kasper Thriving On World Triathlon Stage

CAGLIARI, ITALY — North Andover High alumna Kirsten Kasper finished sixth in Saturday's World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) event in Cagliari, Italy, one of three U.S. women to place in the top 10.

Kasper, 31, finished with a time of 1:48:46 in the event, which took place on an Olympic-distance course: 1,500-meter swim, 38-kilometer bike and 10k run.

"I was able to execute a race I'm really proud of," Kasper wrote on Instagram. "Coming off the world cups last month, I knew I had work to do and I was on a mission. Nothing fancy just consistent work and it paid off today. It's great to be back racing with the top ladies and to feel like myself running again."

The race was won by Great Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown (1:47:42), France's Emma Lombardi was second (1:47:54), American Taylor Knibb finished third (1:47:58) and American Taylor Spivey was fourth (1:48:32)

After placing 12th in the 2021 WTCS standings, Kasper currently sits in 10th (2263 points) after finishing 9th in Yokohama, Japan in May, 12th in Leeds, England in June and 31st in Montreal in June.

Kasper also finished 10th in the 2022 World Triathlon Cup event in Bergen, Norway in August and 14th in the World Triathlon Cup event in Valencia, Spain in September, and she is 9th in the World Triathlon Rankings.

Born in Canada, Kasper attended North Andover High, where she won four swimming state titles, two cross-country state titles and two track and field state titles. She ran collegiately at Georgetown and was a member of the Hoyas' 2011 cross-country team that captured the NCAA title.

Kasper was the USA Triathlon Rookie of the Year in 2014 and over the years, she has won events in Hamburg, Germany (2016), Salinas, Ecuador (2016), New Plymouth, New Zealand (2018), Nottingham, England (2018), Montreal, Canada (2021) and Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida (in March of 2022).