The NC thespians and singers united on Saturday, March 4 to compete at the regional Literary Meet at Hillgrove High School, vying for first place in categories including Essay, Oral Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Quartet, Trio, and Vocal Solo.

Literary Meet, run through GHSA, combines the best of singing and acting in an Olympic-style competition. Five schools attended the region meet — Hillgrove, Kennesaw Mountain, McEachern, NC, and North Paulding — and judges gave out places based on a point scale: seven points for first place, five for second, three for third, one for fourth, and none for fifth. At the end, officials tallied the points to crown a regional champion high school and runner-up.

NC’s quartet took home first place, earning the school a full seven points toward the cup. The group, consisting of seniors Perry Slaughter and Sean Lubbers and juniors Wesley Grant and Jeremiah Franklin, performed two contrasting pieces: “I Have Had Singing” arranged by Ron Jeffers and “My Girl” by The Temptations.

“I thought we did amazing. We’ve been working since August, and we even worked over the Winter break so we all worked as a unit and did amazing,” Slaughter said.

Seniors Jordan Warren and Jacob Jones earned second place for their Oral Interpretation as a duo, presenting the short comedic scene “The Odd Couple” by Neil Simon, and senior Kat Shambaugh won second place for Personal Essay. Warren also placed second for Humorous Oral Interpretation.

“It was really fun, and I got to meet a whole bunch of other people and see our rival schools. I came in second in both of my categories and I’m really proud of that,” Warren said.

Sophomore Bahaar Esfahani and senior Sam Smith also competed in the Essay competition, writing under Argumentative and Rhetorical and winning fourth and third place, respectively. Senior Zac Mullinax, who competed in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, and sophomore Erica Farmer, who competed in International Extemporaneous Speaking, both received third place in their respective categories. Junior Jordan Hicks competed in Dramatic Oral Interpretation, taking fifth place, and both senior Dontavia Gordon and Lubbers took fourth place under Vocal Solo. NC competed in all twelve categories, racking up 35 points for second place overall and the title of runner-up for the regional competition.

“I think we could have placed higher, but I’m also biased. I still think we deserved second or even higher, but it was a good competition overall,” drama teacher Candice Corcoran said.