In 1909, a year after what we now know as the Georgia High School Association was formed, the first recorded regional literary meets were held. High school students across the state competed in broad categories like music and speaking; their opponents hailing from nearby and thus in their same district or region.

On April 9 of that year, one such competition was held for the Ninth District comprised of, among others, Toccoa High School, Commerce High School, Maysville High School and the host Gainesville High School.

On Monday, Feb. 25, 2024 Gainesville High School wasn't hosting the regional literary competition, and its opponents weren't from nearby, but the Red Elephants finished atop Region 7-5A just the same.

Led by faculty advisors Rachel Odum and Tyra Wimpye, Big Red placed first in six different events and second in one more to bring home the title.

Darion Allen won in Boys Solo; Allen, Emilliano Perez, Will Baudin, and Jahleel Dowell won in Boys Quartet; Perez and Baudin took first in Dramatic Duo; Andrew Cao won Argumentative Essage; River Demmler won Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking; and Howell McCall won Literary Analysis. Taking second place in Personal Essay was Molly Collins.

GHS now moves on to the GHSA State Literary Meet, which will be held March 15 at Buford High School.