Central Community College athletic director and head volleyball coach Mary Young has been named a recipient of the 2024 George E. Killian Award of Excellence. The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) annually presents the award to individuals who have demonstrated the ideals of volunteerism, achievement, service, leadership and excellence.

Young is the current NJCAA senior women's administrator and serves on several of the organization's committees, including the championship events, sports governance and eligibility committees. She is a past president of the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association, Region 9 director and assistant director, and was an inaugural NJCAA Board of Regents member. Young was instrumental in the addition of beach volleyball as an NJCAA sport. She played a key role in negotiating the dual membership between the NJCAA and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) for volleyball coaches.

"Receiving the George Killian award is a tremendous honor and I am grateful to the administration at Central Community College for allowing me to serve the NJCAA in multiple capacities," said Young. "The leadership experiences and relationships I've gained through my involvement in the NJCAA have been invaluable. It has been the utmost privilege to serve student-athletes at the local, regional and national levels, and I look forward to continuing this meaningful work."

In 2019. Young relinquished her role as CCC head volleyball coach after 24 years and assumed the role of athletic director. She returned to the coaching bench in 2021 while retaining her athletic director title. Young is a 14-time Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference (NCCAC) Coach of the Year, 13-time Region 9 Coach of the Year and three-time AVCA West Region Coach of the Year.

Young has led the Raiders to 13 Region 9 championships, 17 NCCAC championships and 10 NJCAA national tournaments, finishing top 10 in nine of those. Young has coached 97 All-Conference players, 90 All-Region performers, 25 NJCAA All-Americans and three AVCA All-Americans.