A crowd of 15,000 cheering people swarmed the stands as a rush of adrenaline jolted through sophomore Bailey Lear. The last straight away- the moment she’d leave it all on the track.

“I just gave it all I had,” Lear said. “All that was going through my mind was: I have to pass her. I have to get her. I have to get the time I want. I knew I could do it, and I wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

With a time of 55.01 seconds, Lear holds the national record in the 400m.

“It was my best time ever,” Lear said. “I didn’t cry, but I was in shock. I couldn’t believe I had run that. I was number one in the nation, and I hadn’t grasped that yet.”

This year, nationals were at the Texas A&M indoor track.

“When I walked into the stadium, it looked like something that could be on TV,” Lear said. “It felt like the Olympics. There was an indoor track. Right next to it were the field events. Then there’s a big room, that’s the warm up area, and it’s HUGE.”

Lear has run track since 7^th grade, but she still gets nervous.

“Even though I’ve done it before, it was really nerve-racking,” Lear said. “I was in the last heat, so before I raced, I watched the first two heats to see what time I had to get to win. I was in super focus mode. I knew I could beat that time.”

She beat second place by two thousandths of a second.

“Nobody really knew who had one the race,” her dad Winston Lear said. “We didn’t find out until the young lady from Texas Mile Split announced that Bailey had won and that she had broke the meet record. When Bailey ducked her head through the tape that could’ve been the only reason she won. It was that close.”

Winston Lear could not be more proud of his daughter.

“When they announced that Bailey had won, me and one of the other coaches just hugged each other,” Winston Lear said. I’m pretty sure I cried. I was so choked up I couldn’t talk. For her to be 14 years old and beat someone four years older is just amazing.”

The next step for Lear is the New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York, and then school track season.

“At Texas A&M, Bailey ran well, she finished strong, but she has to learn to put her best race at the beginning of the 400 rather than just at the end,” her coach Richard Thomas said. “I was happy for Bailey, but at the same time, I always look for things she could fix. If she’s still not doing the thing she’s supposed to do, that means she can probably go faster.”

Thomas has coached Lear for four years.

“When Bailey first came to me, she was 11 years old and she was terrible, but I saw potential,” Thomas said. “The first race she ran, she ran a 1:17, and her dad was a little disappointed, but I told her dad ‘this is her first race, and we have a long way to go. Just relax. Let me do what I need to do, and we’ll get those results.’ Here we are today ranked number one in the country.”

Out of all the events she does, the 400m dash is Lear’s favorite event.

“Something about the 400 is magical,” Lear said. “It’s a mixture of endurance and stamina. There’s nothing like it. It’s an adrenaline-pumping race. Also, I like doing individual sports more than team sports because I know what I can do.”

Before every race, there are three things her dad tells her.

“I tell her put God first,” Winston Lear said. “Always go out here and make a statement. Let them know you’re here. Block everything out. Don’t worry about anyone else in this race, always race against the clock. And, don’t worry about anybody else. Run your time. Run your race.”