Newsday Athlete of the Week is Lindenhurst's Avery Nill

For Avery Nill, a fourth-place finish at the Suffolk individual championships on Feb. 8 wasn’t what she desired, but the journey to that point was her true victory.

Weeks before the event, the Lindenhurst senior thought she couldn’t compete. She finished the season 17-3 in her discipline, epee, one bout short of the requirement to compete in the championships.

“I was upset; there aren’t many words I can even use to express it,” Nill said. “It’s my senior year. I wanted to go out with a bang.”

Nill spent two weeks in the hospital in December because of a flare-up of multiple sclerosis (MS). She was unable to compete for the following week after her release from the hospital, causing her to miss three weeks of the season and be one bout short of qualifying for the Suffolk championships. Lindenhurst athletic director Anthony Amesti fought for a medical waiver that was ultimately granted, allowing Nill to compete.

During her fourth bout of the initial pool at the championships, Nill began to feel ill, falling to the floor and needing to fight just to stay in the competition.

“I overheated. I fell to the floor and cried because I didn’t know what was happening,” Nill said. “The trainer didn’t know if they could let me continue to fence. I had to do so many tests and I just kept saying, ‘I’m fencing, I’m fencing.’ ”

For her efforts and perseverance, Nill is Newsday’s Athlete of the Week.

Nill advanced past the first and second pools and finished fourth in the epee competition and as a first-team All-County fencer, a feat that weeks earlier seemed unimaginable.

MS is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system. Some of its symptoms are fatigue, heat intolerance, pain and vision loss, all symptoms Nill has experienced.

Nill was diagnosed with the disease in August after she felt the entirety of her left side go numb, following a day of fencing and marching band practice.

She spent a week in the hospital before returning to the marching band, where she plays the five-piece tenor, a set of drums, normally the heaviest in the marching band.

“It’s not easy to have days where you can’t feel your left leg and play a drum that heavy,” Nill said.

“She had to fight through occupational therapy, physical therapy,” her father, Michael Nill said. “She had to get in condition to do that and the entire time, she had in her mind, how can she fence?”

After Nill's two-week hospital stay in December, she returned to the fencing team. Although she was unable to compete initially, she felt it necessary to be around the team and help coach her teammates.

“She’s a leader, always eager to make the program better,” Lindenhurst coach Blake Heller said. “Whenever she was there, she helped out. Day in and day out, she leads the epees.”

As for her ability to garner the strength to push through the adversity, it’s always been there, but now it has grown.

“I’ve always had the drive, but since the diagnosis, I feel I’ve pushed even harder,” Nill said. “I can be just like anyone else. I can still do what everyone else can. I just have to try a little harder and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

By Christopher Matias

christopher.matias@newsday.comchrxs_matias

Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.