With a convincing 3-0 defeat of York Prep on 5/19, the Boys Varsity Volleyball team concluded the spring athletics season by being crowned the inaugural NYPSVCA champions. It was a fitting sign-off for master tactician Georges Barjoud, whose 30 years of service at UNIS culminated in coaching the best volleyball team across all private schools in New York City.
"Mr. Barjoud has left a wonderful legacy at UNIS," reflected Athletic Director Duncan Davison. "His commitment to students, enthusiasm for teaching, and willingness to support our program has been truly inspiring. He will be remembered as a genuinely pleasant and considerate member of staff, and his contributions will be sorely missed. On behalf of us all at UNIS, we wish Mr. Barjoud nothing but the best moving forward."
Other notable achievements during the spring included success for a number of UNIS' track athletes. At the middle school level, five students (Grace Bruell, Shayla Smith, Isabella Padasak, Gabriela Ramirez, and Eugenie Cardon de Lichtbuer) qualified for the Gotham Games; meanwhile, at the Varsity level, "most [UNIS] athletes qualified for the NYCAL League Championships," says Coach Howard Lindsay. "The girls finished in third place, while the boys were not far behind, as several ran their best times of the season!"
Nine UNIS athletes also qualified for the NYSAIS end-of-season championships - Natasha Chalmers, Noella Kalasa, Alison Swinth, Erika Nazarova, Rea Kondi, Max Boie, Daragh McMahon, Thomas McKillop, and Raymond Fleming.
Finally, two of our Varsity teams made us proud with their conduct this season. Both the Boys Varsity Tennis and the Girls Varsity Softball teams achieved the distinction of being awarded the NYCAL Sportsmanship Award, an accomplishment indicative of their consistent fair play. Go UNIS!