Phoenix, Arizona – November 1, 2024 – Two years, or half a lifetime. When it's for the love of the game, the difference in prep time doesn't always matter.
 
Grand Canyon University Men's Hockey player Jacob Cummings and Grand Canyon University Club Triathlon Student Leader Shoshanah Stukas phenom took decidedly different routes in their arrivals to the GCU Club Sports department. Their collective similar commitments to excellence, though, made each a strong honoree as GCU Club Sports October Student-Athletes of the Month.
 
Jacob Cummings: Men's Ice Hockey
 
"An indescribable experience."
 
While the GCU Men's Ice Hockey team technically opened the season on the road this year in 3,600-miles-away Anchorage, Alaska, senior Jacob Cummings felt right at home. Literally.
 
"It was emotional for me to be able to go back home," said Cummings. "Having the support of the whole town was the perfect way to kick off the last year of my career."
 
For Cummings, though, the return home was just the first major landmark in his senior campaign. The second came mere weeks later when he became the first Lope to ever hit 100 career points with an assist against San Diego State University in mid-October. 
 
"The 100-point milestone for Jacob shows how much commitment he's had," said GCU Men's Ice Hockey Head Coach Danny Roy. "Despite being someone who came in with a high level of offensive skill, it's still obvious that he knows how to commit to the process of fitting into a team system, and he leads our team by example in that way."
 
Ice hockey always seemed to be within arm's reach for Cummings, who's had skates on "since he could walk." The entire Cummings family played hockey growing up, and many of Jacob's friends (some of which who now play for the same University of Alaska-Anchorage that the Lopes just faced off against) did the same.


 
After graduating from West Anchorage High, Cummings left for Wisconsin to play two years of AAA hockey for the Madison Capitols in the North America Prospects Hockey League, racking up 23 points in the process. From there he spent two more seasons in Sheridan, Wyoming, tallying a whopping 119 points for the local North America Tier III Hockey League Hawks.
 
That's when GCU entered the picture.
 
"My sister was enrolled at GCU, and I just remember visiting her and loving the campus, loving Phoenix," said Cummings. "I was looking at some DIII schools at the time, but Coach Roy also reached out to me, and it seemed like the perfect situation."
 
Four seasons (two of which where he led the team in total points) and 100 points later, Cummings has those around him to thank.
 
"It's cool to be the first one to do it, but I wouldn't have been able to get it done without the help of those around me," said Cummings. "I thank God above all else."
 
As a four-year Lopes' starter, Cummings has been a mainstay on a team building momentum, leading the team in total points his first two seasons. He's close to that benchmark again this year with eight points through seven games.
 
"The team has grown leaps and bounds - from the way that we work out and practice to the way we play," said Cummings. We've gotten so much more competitive, and the goal is to win a national championship."
 
As a Business Management major set to graduate this spring, Cummings is keeping his options open.
 
"I'm going to move back to Alaska in May and from there we'll see," said Cummings. "I recently got my pilot's license, too, so I'm excited to see where that could take me."
 
Shoshanah Stukas: Triathlon
 
Triathlon and balance. They must be one and the same. With equal parts swimming, cycling and running, failing to balance that trio means you're towards the back of the pack.
 
For Shoshanah Stukas, that theory transcends from sport. It's her way of life.
 
The Thornton, Colorado native can see the diploma for her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering through her windshield – just a few months away from being handed it at GCU Commencement in April.
 
But there's so many things to do to get there.
 
"My goal is to do everything I do as well as I can do it," said Stukas. "So I aim to be present with whatever I'm doing at that time. I try to put the big rocks first into my schedule, then just run my gears at a really high speed." 
 


The first task is obvious: crack the books and keep doing what you're doing, including capstone, midterms, finals, you name it. Check.
 
The second is her relatively new position as student co-leader for GCU Club Triathlon – one that she took on in August – even though she'd never been in a triathlon before the fall of 2022. She spent the past two years not just learning the craft but excelling with a top-3 finish at last year's Havasu Triathlon and a top-25 finish among females at the 2024 USA Triathlon National Championships last April. This semester, though, she's gone to weekly GCU Club Sports Leadership Classes every Monday, finished 2^nd in the team's first triathlon of the year, the Castle Creek Triathlon, and learned the ropes of helping run practices, spin room sessions, planning trips and ordering gear. Check.
 
Now, jumping up to third is a brand-new task – one that Stukas was excited but hesitant to take on: run for the Lopes' NCAA Cross Country team. Their first-year head coach, Shayla Houlihan, saw Stukas' triathlon times and thought she'd be a good fit. Since then, despite joining the team after preseason workouts, she's adjusted on the fly to the 6K distance, run in three races within a month, and led the Lopes' female runners the last two races (finishing 20^th in the Dave Murray Invitational last month).
 
And yet, no one who spends any time around Stukas will ever accuse her of not keeping a smile on her face while she does it all. Because trumping all of that is what her faith has brought with these experiences.
 
"Getting the call for cross country opened my eyes to the fact that this is clearly an opportunity from the Lord, because it wasn't on my radar," said Stukas. "It caused me to depend on my faith and on Him for strength. It's also cool to see hard work pay off, and the crossover from cross-training has been pretty phenomenal."
 
The goal for some club sports athletes who get the call for an NCAA Division 1 opportunity would be move up and stay there. Not Stukas.
 
"I'm not leaving triathlon! I love it too much!" said Stukas. "I've always been more of a runner, but after watching (former GCU Triathlon Head Coach) Nick (Windauer) and his love for the sport, then watching Stephen – who has that winning triathlon background - be able to demonstrate that love makes it possible for us to see what benefits there are. We're not all comfortable, which is great, since it's new for so many, and it's great to be around people who are so open to doing something new."
 
Stukas has competed with triathletes, cross-country runners, club runners (she was a student leader for GCU Running Club during her freshman year), and of course, herself for the past four years. Knowing she's competing with other grads in her field once April rolls around, Stukas is already networking to get a job in her chosen field to eventually become an engineer at a medical device company and is keeping options open for where she'd live to do that. Stukas won't spend too much time worrying about the future, though. 
 
She's too busy smiling about the current competitions she continues to handle.
 
"Competing always makes me in awe of what our bodies can do and makes me so grateful for the body I have, the opportunities to race here, and the strength to endure races and difficult things," said Stukas. "Don't be intimidated by new things. Those challenges produce growth when you put in the time so that you can conceptualize what you can reach."