Wiping the sweat trickling down his forehead, his hands moistened against the humid air.

He reached down and fumbled with the laces of his spikes, struggling to get them off. He took a deep breath and let out a deep sigh of relief.

Feet sore and hamstrings tight, then-high-school junior Jamal McTear headed straight home to tune into the Diamond League track meet on TV that his coach had advised him to check out.

“It was 11 p.m., and I remember seeing it was a 400-meter dash — and right then and there, the announcers were talking about how the winner received $60,000 for winning that race,” McTear said. “I was just like, ‘Hold on, he just made $60,000 in 45 seconds.’”

Realizing that track could not only be lucrative but “life changing,” his dedication to track shifted.

“Coach, whatever I have to do, however many days I have to train, I want to get there,” McTear said. “Whatever we have to do, I’m willing to do it.”

Prior to his junior year of high school, McTear focused on earning college football offers. McTear’s football coach urged him to venture out and try track and field. Still, McTear was steadfast in his dedication to football.

“My coach knew about my family’s history in track and field, so he was very persistent that my brother and I run track,” McTear said. ”But for me, running was just never a thought. It was just play football, go to college and then the NFL.”

Not fully committed to the idea yet of becoming a full-fledged track athlete, McTear, over the course of his junior year, began to slowly, day by day and meet by meet, become fascinated by the idea of pursuing a career in professional track.

“We’d go to a lot of track meets, and people would tell me, ‘Man, you’re going to be good,’” McTear said. “But I didn’t really fall in love with it until I saw what it could become — how you could actually make a life out of it. That’s when I really locked in.”

Junior Jamal McTear realized track could be more than just a sport — that it could support his future. His motivation gradually turned into something deeper — a genuine love for the race. As he would come to love it, track came merely as second nature rooted quite literally in his DNA.

“My uncle, Houston McTear, was once the fastest man in the world for one event,” McTear said. “Back then, it was the 100-yard dash, then it became the 100-meter dash.”

As a high school athlete, Houston McTear ran a flat nine seconds in the 100-yard dash in 1972. While not officially recognized due to the race being hand timed, Houston McTear’s record breaks today’s world record held by Usain Bolt at 9.58 seconds.

“My uncle was just one of the ones out of there who really excelled,” McTear said. “My dad’s side of the family was where all the athleticism really came from.”

Houston was invited to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and featured on the cover of a Sports Illustrated issue in 1978. Through his success, the word got around that Jamal McTear was Houston McTear’s nephew.

“I had been scouted and offered full rides just because of who I was related to,” McTear said. “I had scholarships to Grambling State University, the University of Houston, Michigan State, Kansas State, Mississippi Valley State University and University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, but coming out of high school running a 48-second 400, I feel like I earned it.”

The collegiate doors were wide open for McTear, yet he was skeptical about leaving his hometown. After advice from his coach to branch out, McTear attended Grambling State University, where he would compete amongst the nation’s top athletes.

“My coach said, ‘Man, leave home and go somewhere else outside of Michigan. You can always come back home,’” McTear said. “That’s why I ultimately ended up attending school in Louisiana. I made sure I wasn’t the best one at the program that I went to. I wanted to have true competition. And as I stayed there over time, I became the captain.”

College became a turning point for McTear, especially in his success in the 400-meter dash. While at Grambling State, he ran a personal best of 46.5 seconds and began attracting attention from Olympic scouting programs.

“I was at the point where I was perfecting my craft as a professional athlete and competing across the U.S.”

As he transitioned from high school competition to becoming a Division I athlete, his perspective on track shifted, as it began to demand more responsibility and time than he had expected.

“Track in college is more of a duty rather than something you just have interest in or do for fun.,” McTear said.

McTear’s fervent love and dedication for track didn’t come from a single mentor or external influence, but from his own relentless desire to reach the level of greatness he desired.

“I just wanted it so bad that I didn’t need anybody to push me to want to go after it, because I was willing to do it,” McTear said. “If it was me on the track by myself, I was willing to die to do it.”

For him, “it” meant reaching the Olympics and competing on an international stage.

“Coming out of high school, my goal was to make it to state, become a state champion, go to college, win a national title and eventually make it to the Olympics. I always wanted to reach the highest level possible.”

What keeps McTear coming back is the solitude of the sport. When he steps up to the line, it’s just him and the clock, a race that ultimately comes down to himself.

“That’s the biggest reason why I love track, because I can’t point the finger at anybody for why I didn’t succeed — it’s just me.”

Graduating from Grambling State University with a degree in criminal justice and a minor in forensics, he made the decision to continue his journey working with his primary coach, who was based in Texas.

“After college, I went to Dallas first because the coach that I had at the time was out there,” McTear said. “But Houston had the most opportunities for track meets, so I figured if I moved to Houston, I could cut down on traveling costs, and I could go to more meets and compete.”

After moving to Houston, McTear picked up a job at FedEx, so that he would still be able to train full time.

“That’s what ultimately got me to Houston, because of the track opportunities that the city offered.” McTear said.

Over time, the strain of balancing a full-time job and professional-level training started to become overwhelming.

“At church, there were a lot of people that were teachers, and they would see how tired I was coming in from work or coming in after practice from work,” McTear said. “They just kind of kept encouraging me like, ‘Man, you should be a teacher, and then you can also look into coaching and stuff like that.’”

The freedom of this career enticed him — with teaching, he would have weekends and breaks to continue working on his craft. Persuaded to pursue a career as a teacher, he attended a recruiting fair at Delmar Fieldhouse where he met Assistant Principal Laura Perez.

“Ms. Perez was the one that brought me in,” McTear said. “I was actually the only one that she hired from that career fair, and she had told me that I better not let her regret it.”

McTear took that and ran with it literally and figuratively. As a first-year teacher, he earned the Teacher of the Year award, but the growing demands of students who relied on him left him spending less time on the track.

“I’ve kind of hung up my spikes as far as being competitive and going out there to compete once I came to Bellaire,” McTear said. “I’ve left that part of my life because I just care more about my students now.”

Once he had realized that Bellaire excelled in athletics, he set a new goal in his mind — to live on his passion with track. It was time for the next phase of his personal race.

“I wasn’t looking to coach right away, and I definitely did not expect to lead to the extent that I do now, but I am grateful every day that I get to coach my athletes,” McTear said.

While McTear noted that it was possible for him to teach and still continue practicing, he began to enjoy coaching more than pursuing his own track career.

“I could make the time, but my athletes matter more to me than I do myself,” McTear said. “I know what it’s like to be up there in that position, but the drive to compete is still very much to which I translate into how I coach now.”

Now a teacher for aquatic science and the coach of the girls track team, he hasn’t left those influences behind. Instead, he carries them into every practice and every athlete he leads.

“Every coach that I’ve had at every level has given me something that drives me to keep going as far as coaching,” McTear said. “I’m guilty of how hard I push them, but most of it comes from a place of how much I believe in their ability — to show them that the impossible is possible.”

For sophomore Christine Bennette, who advanced to varsity track and field as of this year, she qualified to regionals for the 4×200-meter relay. If it wasn’t for McTear’s coaching and leadership, she “wouldn’t be running track at all.”

“He really showed me how strong I am,” Bennette said. “I never knew that I had it in me to run, because when I joined track, I could not run. I feel like he saw something in me that I didn’t see, and he just helped me see it for myself.”

Striding toward McTear’s goal of building his team into a program that can advance to state — and ultimately win — he remains equally focused on something more personal — helping his athletes reach their own goals.

“Just seeing them develop a love for the sport and helping somebody achieve what they want out of their career is the biggest thing for me,” McTear said.

For junior Keira Oliver, it’s McTear’s character that draws her to trust his process and find enjoyment in every practice and meet beyond his coaching ability. He doesn’t just train athletes — he invests in them, creating an environment where each meet and practice feels meaningful and progress feels possible.

“Just because of him, I think I’ll have a better future in track that I actually enjoy,” Oliver said. “He has a big personality, but he genuinely just sees the best version in all of us.”

While McTear’s personal track journey has come to end, now only participating sporadically in track races purely for recreation, he has started the next phase of his relationship with track. Being inspired by the sport’s possibilities, he is now someone who creates those same possibilities for others with the utmost care.

“Man, I’ll never get tired of track,” McTear said. “I enjoy every day I get to come here and coach and teach. I tell people all the time, and it honestly makes me emotional thinking about it. There’s not a bad day when I’m here. I just love it.”