2024 Mary Ellen Leicht Service Award

Mary Ellen Leicht Service Award

Founded in 1959, the NJCAA Service Award is the most tenured honor handed out by the association. It is given to those - most often not an athlete - who have made significant contributions to two-year college athletics on a national level for an extended period of time. Annually, one Service Award can be reserved for a member of the media. In 2017, the NJCAA renamed the honor to the Mary Ellen Leicht Service Award in recognition of the 28 years of dedicated service by its third Executive Director. To view a list of past winners, visit: Mary Ellen Leicht Service Award Winners

Greg Witkop – CCBC Essex (MD)

Greg Witkop has served as the Administrator of Essex Athletics since 2014, previously serving in the same role at CCBC Catonsville beginning in 2011. During his tenure at CCBC Essex, Witkop has served as the NJCAA Region 20 Committee chairperson for basketball, lacrosse, and has also served as the Maryland Junior College Conference President. He has also served as the men's assistant region director and a member of the NJCAA men's soccer and basketball committees and chairs the NJCAA Lacrosse and Division III Men's Basketball Committees.

He has been actively involved with the NJCAA for a total of 24 years. Witkop has a great deal of experience at the two-year level, having first been an NJCAA student-athlete at Niagara County Community College where he received his Associate of Arts while also playing on the men's basketball team. He has also previously worked at Harford Community College, Erie Community College, Cecil College, and Niagara County Community College. Throughout the years he has served the Association and its student-athletes diligently in various positions including head men's basketball coach, head women's basketball coach, head women's soccer coach, sports information director, and assistant coach for multiple sports.

Megan Aiello – Spartanburg Methodist College (SC)

Since 2018, Megan Aiello has served as the Athletic Director and Chair of the Physical Education Department at Spartanburg Methodist. Aiello is also currently Chair of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council for the NJCAA, serves as the Women's Director for Region 10, and is a member of the NJCAA Beach Volleyball and Division I Volleyball committees. She has also previously served as a member of the Division I Women's Soccer, Division II Women's Basketball, and Men's Volleyball committees. Aiello is only the second woman to hold the position of athletic director at Spartanburg Methodist.

Prior to her role as athletics director, Aiello spent five seasons as the head volleyball coach for the Pioneers where she led the team to the 2016 and 2017 Region 10/17 championship and runner-up in the District P Championship. As head coach, she coached four Academic All-Americans and two All-District Team selections. In 2003, Aiello first began her coaching career for the Pioneers, leading the team to a regular season Region 10 Championship and was awarded the Region 10 Coach of the Year. Over three years, she produced eight All-Region and 6 Region 10 All-Tournament team selections.

Outside of Spartanburg Methodist, Aiello served as the head volleyball coach for Huntingdon College as well as the associate athletic director of compliance and the senior women's administrator. She was at Huntingdon for six years where she was awarded the Great South Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and secured the 2010 regular season Great South Athletic Conference Championship title.

For all 2024 NJCAA Honors and Annual Award Winners, visit: 2023-24 NJCAA Award Winners

For all NJCAA Honors, please visit: NJCAA Honors Home