Feature - 1st placeFriends (from left) Johnathan Nhem, Charles Polan and Tyler Asbrock defend themselves against imaginary enemies . The boys who are neighbors in Reynoldsburg were duplicating moves they had watched in some of their video games. (Eric Albrecht / The Columbus Dispatch)
Feature - 2nd placeA diver twists sideways to wipe a missed spot that fellow diver Halle Minshall (foreground) finds while cleaning the Rock Pool tank in the corridor at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. (Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer)
Feature - 3rd placeA family of swans takes up residence in a farmer's flooded field along Mitchell Road in Clark County. Several days of steady rain has caused flooding in several areas. (Bill Lackey / Springfield News-Sun)
General News - 1st placeWesterville North High School students held a candle light vigil outside the school in honor of Leroy A. Gilkey, 38, a Spanish teacher at Westerville North High School. They formed a circle around a rock that was painted RIP and included their teachers name . (Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch)
General News - 2nd placeRetiring police Chief Walter Distelzweig gets a hug from safety director Mitchell Brown as Mayor Michael Coleman (far right) talks to chief's wife Cindy before leaving the police headquarters for the final time. (Eric Albrecht / The Columbus Dispatch)
General News - 3rd placeNew Columbus Division of Fire firefighters are sworn during a ceremony held at the division's training academy. After 32 weeks of training, 61 firefighters graduated. This is the last graduating fire class under Fire Chief Ned Pettus Jr., who will be retiring in March. (Fred Squillante / The Columbus Dispatch)
Portrait - 1st placeMatt Bogard, 18, a senior at Westlake High School, is a fencer at the Hooked on Fencing club. Bogard, who has competed in competitions as far as Finland and Sweden, has Olympic aspirations. Next year he will be competing at Ohio State. ( Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer)
Portrait - 2nd placeCapuchin monkey Nick and Ashley Finley play in owner Shelley Finley's (who is Ashley's mom) Dublin home. (Fred Squillante / The Columbus Dispatch)
Portrait - 3rd placeRyan Haber, 28, of Solon, has designed his own line of women shoes called the Ryan Haber Collection. His shoes have been worn by stars such as Carrie Underwood. His shoes are made in Italy. Haber, a Cleveland Institute of Arts graduate, just started designing shoes in 2010. (Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer)
Sports action - 1st placeRunners compete in the one-mile race during the Doug Raymond Invitational in Kent. (Joel Hawksley / Ohio University )
Sports action - 2nd placeOhio State center Amir Williams (23) stops Penn State Nittany Lions forward Ross Travis (43) from scoring at Value City Arena. (Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch)
Sports action - 3rd placeTravis Gray (23) and Anthony Colletti (24) of Greenon compete for a rebound with Grant Hall (40) of Graham. (Barbara J. Perenic / Springfield News-Sun)
Sports feature - 1st placeThe Bobcats celebrate as students rush the court after their 69-65 win over arch-rival Miami at the Convocation Center in Athens. (Joel Hawksley / Ohio University)
Sports feature - 2nd placeOhio head coach John Groce prays with his team after their 69-65 win over arch-rival Miami at the Convocation Center in Athens. (Joel Hawksley / Ohio University)
Sports feature - 3rd placeToledo Walleye mascot Cat Trick dumps a bucket of popcorn on fan Sylvia Spencer as the Walleye play Reading Royals during the third period at Huntington Center. (Andy Morrison / Toledo Blade)
Spot News - 1st placeFire and rescue crews from Cedarville, Harmony, Madison and Stokes Townships battled a three-alarm barn fire at the Waymire farm in Madison Township. Cattle and rabbits were lost in the fire, which took hours to bring control. The structure was declared a total loss. (Barbara J. Perenic / Springfield News-Sun)
Spot News - 2nd placeLancaster police search for evidence relating to a shooting in the neighborhood off of Fair Avenue in Lancaster. Two people were shot by a male suspect according to Lancaster police. By noon, police were searching for suspect George F. Conrad, 49. An arrest warrant was issued on him for pending charges, police said. (Neal C. Lauron / The Columbus Dispatch)
Spot News - 3rd placeA woman is rescued from the ice covered pond in her backyard at Pleasant Township after she stretched a ladder onto the ice and climbed out on it to rescue her dog that had fallen through the ice in the center of the pond. The dog was not able to be saved but fire fighters did recover the pets body from the water with a rescue boat. (Bill Lackey / Springfield News-Sun)
Story - 1st placeCadet Matt Pirrello, 21, takes a breath before beginning a sprint at Pruitt Field on Ohio University campus in Athens. Pirrello lost his right leg due to an accident that occurred during his R.O.T.C. training, despite his injury he continues to train alongside his peers and hopes to someday serve in the United States Air Force. (Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch)
Story - 2nd placeEast Asian Studies major Sara Schreck dresses in traditional garb for the festival. Scenes from East Asian Fest, a celebration of the Chinese New Year put on by the Wittenberg University East Asian Studies Department at Good Shepherd Church. (Barbara J. Perenic/Springfield N / Springfield News-Sun)
Story - 3rd placeVice President Joe Biden greets the crowd as he enters the room for during a speech about college affordability at Gahanna Lincoln High School. (Adam Cairns / ThisWeek Newspapers)
