Soccer as a springboard.

Both Grand Canyon University Women's Club Soccer player Sydney Cox and Grand Canyon University Running Club's Stylianos Regas can relate to that. One is still devoted to the sport, one has used it to branch out to his new chosen sport, and both use that foresight to determine their future paths as our GCU Club Sports Student-Athletes of the Month in January.

Sydney Cox: Women's Club Soccer

She knows where she's been, so she wants to walk alongside those come after her.
 
Oh, and soccer's pretty important, too.
 
Athletics and medicine were always in the cards for GCU Women's Club Soccer player Sydney Cox – mainly because she's been paying full attention to the cards she was dealt from a very early age.
 
"I knew at age 5 that I wanted to be a doctor, and I've always been drawn to the pediatric side since I had my own health issues as a child," said Cox. "I truly believe I was placed on this earth to be of service to others. It's my driving force every single day, and I want to be my best person I can to represent God."
 
It's not difficult to figure out where that came from. Cox grew up in Henderson, Nevada – a Las Vegas suburb – in a Christian household that stressed strong ideals and faith. Cox's parents embodied it as two divorced parents who – having two kids each from their previous marriages - married each other, had her brother and Sydney together, then adopted a 7^th child from China when Cox was 5.
 
Yet the words 'blended family' – which can be a blessed term or sometimes less than that – never entered the picture. Everyone was together. Equal. As one.
 
"I never really noticed a difference or considered them 'half-siblings'," said Cox. "There's a big enough gap (the ages range from 16 to 40) that I was the baby of the family, and my older sisters were my second moms. My little sister is my best friend," although she adds with a wry smile, "I'm not sure I'm her best friend, though, since she's 16 and too cool for her older sister."
 
Those bonds gave her focus, a sense of relationships and direction - and not just with medicine. She embraced soccer at the tender age of 5 when she and her best friend began playing it in her backyard, and when she was part of SLAM Academy's first class in her 7^th grade year, she thrived in every area.
 
"I liked the small-school feel with all my heart, and was part of their 3^rd graduating class of 112 people," said Cox. "I had great relationships with the staff, my fellow students, in student council, in the National Honors Society, and both my soccer and flag football teams were like family."
 
That smaller school was a quiet influence as well when she started looking for colleges – when she THOUGHT she wanted bigger.
 
"GCU was the last school I looked at, because I originally wanted to go to a big research university like Stanford," Cox said. "Cost was a factor, but GCU's scholarships offered me the benefits of education, the ability to still play soccer, and of course, it's a Christian school, which is what I wanted."
 
She expected soccer to fade into the background, though.
 
It didn't.
 
"I quit soccer in the middle of my senior year (at SLAM), and I didn't play as a college freshman because I came here to be a doctor," said Cox. "However, watching my sister play club soccer back home made me miss it, so I joined the Lopes' Club Soccer team as a sophomore and wound up on the lowest team because of the long break I took, leading to my skills and fitness level not being where it once was. Playing again ignited the competitive spirit in me, so I worked my butt off. The next year, I made the top team, and this year, I'm captain and student leader, so it worked out."
 
The Sydney Cox of a year ago couldn't have imagined the ways she and the Sydney of now don't resemble each other.
 
"Educationally, I made it to senior year and realized that I needed to switch my major from Bio Premed to Bio Pre-Physician Assistant," said Cox. "Thoughts of medical school were drowning me, and every decision I made was towards that, so it was freeing to change majors, and think about getting married and having sooner than 15 years down the road.
 
Athletically, our team culture wasn't as good last year, and I didn't get as much experience as I wanted to. I wasn't going to return, but when I heard we had a new coach coming, (Lopes' Head Coach) Alex (Martins_ and I had a conversation before I came back. Now I've helped to create a foundation of culture for when I'm gone."
 
That culture took the new-look 2025 Lopes to NIRSA Nationals for the first time ever, giving Cox the highlight of her soccer career. Partially because of that, while her undergrad career will end when she graduates from GCU in April, her Lopes' playing career won't.
 
"I ultimately don't need to get a Master's, but I do love learning and this will allow me to continue my career with this squad," said Cox. "I'm not finished with soccer yet, but it will be hard when it is, and I will just have to lean on my family, friends and God to get through that. I will eventually go to PA school – and might even go into the fire department before that - but that's all up to God right now."
 
Stylianos Regas: Running Club
 
For GCU Running Club standout Stylianos 'Styli' Regas, the pursuit of a 'PR' (personal record) goes far beyond his running shoes. Whether it's the track, the classroom, or the church, the junior from Duluth, Minnesota is determined to keep racing— and to bring others along with him.
 
Regas is a Computer Science major with a Cybersecurity minor, currently diving into projects with the GCU Game Development club and Canyon Artificial Inteligence Research (CAIR) club, where he's working on a team building a nursing simulator to help reduce clinical times for students. When he's not leading code reviews or checking in with his development teams, you can usually find him out on the track or the trail.
 
"I don't plan on stopping running until I physically can't do it," said Regas. "It's something that I constantly find myself coming back to."
 
Regas got his start in sports through soccer, but it didn't take long for him to realize what part of the game he enjoyed most— running. That newfound passion turned into a cross-country career, where he served as a senior captain in high school, and has since evolved into being a two-time marathon finisher. He's now a consistent top performer at local races that the GCU Running Club team participates in like the Hot Chocolate 5k, where he PR'd last year, and the Litchfield Park 5k, where he looks to do the same later this month.
 
"Running is such an individual grind," said Regas. "It's up to you to decide how far you want to go and whether or not you can break through mental barriers."
 
While the sport may be solo in structure, Regas knows the team aspect still matters. Whether it's a pre-run fist bump, a quick verbal check-in, or a weekend road trip with the squad, he brings energy and encouragement in the little things— something that even his coach notices.
 
"He's one of the star athletes on our team which makes it even more impressive that he works so hard to lead our group and incorporate things like team bonding," said GCU Running Club Head Coach Anthony Vela. "He even leads practices sometimes when I am unable to be there."
 
That spirit of leadership carries into his family and his faith. With one older brother and a close-knit family—including a strong Greek heritage on his father's side—Regas has always felt a responsibility to "set the tone" for those around him.
 
"I always try my best to make time for family and those close to me. Sometimes it's the little gestures that make the biggest difference," said Regas. "I'm huge on being a role model for those around me - especially my younger cousins and my teammates."
 
That mindset has extended into his faith journey as well. While he admits to being a more passive believer in high school, coming to GCU helped him reconnect and grow spiritually, as he now leads a youth group at Assumption Greek Orthodox in Scottsdale.
 
"Since being here on campus, I've had my eyes opened to how I should be appreciating God's gifts more," said Regas. "Running is also a big part of that. It draws me closer to my faith when it's just me and Him out there in the quiet times."
 
With his eyes set on game, software, or web development after graduation, Regas is keeping his career options open— but one thing that's not changing is his commitment to running. Whether it's the next meet, an early morning road loop, or simply showing up for the people around him, Stylianos Regas is always chasing more than just a PR.