Bartlow wins first XC state title in county history

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – North Bay Haven senior, Margaret "Maggie" Bartlow became the first Bay County runner ever to win a cross-country State Championship on Saturday.

Bartlow took first place with a time of 17:56.2, nearly 17 seconds ahead of second place in the Class 2A State Championships at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

Before Bartlow, Bay High School's David Parker was the highest-finishing Bay County runner (1982 state runner-up).

Bartlow earned fourth at the state meet last season, what she considered to be her "breakout performance" as a runner. Ever since then, she has been training to earn gold.

She said coming down the final stretch of the course toward the finish was a surreal feeling, presenting her with a myriad of emotions.

"On the way down to the finish line, it was pure panic," Bartlow said. "Because I'm not a very, this is going to sound weird, but I'm not a very fast person. You put me on a sprint with like a middle schooler and I'm going to lose the sprint. So, when I finally crossed it and I realized I had won, nobody materialized behind me, it was just a moment of immense relief and celebration."

On top of making school and county history, winning gold at Florida State University's home course was even more special for Bartlow because she committed to the Seminoles earlier this month.

"It was really, really special getting to do that on the Florida State course," Bartlow said. "Because like, ever since I committed, I was like, okay, this would be a really, really cool possibility if I could just go out and win and get up on the podium and get to like, you know, go Noles (chop) and everything. So I'd been dreaming about that, like leading up to the race. I'm like okay let's see if we can turn this into a reality."

Before track season, Barlow will compete at the Footlocker South Regional, hoping to qualify for Nationals in California. She will also compete at a national competition in Huntsville, Alabama.