Feature - 1st place - Hunter Haberland (left) licks the snow as Blake Jankowski throws snow on him while burying him in Oregon, Ohio. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Feature - 2nd place - A pedestrian braves the cold and the snow as he walks out to his car parked on Selle Street in Akron. (Jeff Lange / Akron Beacon Journal)
Feature - 3rd place - Howell, Michigan resident Vianne Bowman is framed by a display of dolls as she looks around during the Toledo Doll & Bear Show & Sale hosted at the Lucas County Recreation Center in Maumee, Ohio. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Feature - HM - Zoo goers walk through the Rainbow Tunnel during the PNC Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. (Kareem Elgazzar / The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Feature - HM - Four-year-old Gracyn Pumerantz (right) admires dancers Colette Beans (left) and Gabrielle Grossmann during the annual "Clara and Me: Nutcracker Tea" at the Inverness Club. The event celebrated the Toledo Ballet's 79th Nutcracker performance. (Amy E. Voigt / The Blade)
General News - 1st place - Anna Keagler, sister of Michelle Keagler, (right) is comforted by her friend Erika Berg during a candle light vigil for Michelle Keagler at the Oregon Recreation Center. Michelle Keagler was found near Kuhlman Drive and South Avenue stabbed 24 times. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
General News - 2nd place - Contour Sanford looks around the gym at Tecumseh High School as his mother, Erin, casts her vote. (Bill Lackey / Springfield News-Sun)
General News - 3rd place - Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune raises his hat after he enters the hall as friends, politicians, community leaders and the public gathered to tribute Hamilton County Todd Portune, who will be retiring at the end of year. Faced with a resurgence of cancer, Portune will retire by Dec. 31. (Kareem Elgazzar / The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Portrait - 1st place - Taniece Temple poses for a portrait in her apartment building in Toledo. Temple created a non-profit support group called Pretty. Loved & Destined to help girls with situations similar to hers and help empower young women. Taniece is the sex-trafficking victim of several Toledo pastors. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Portrait - 2nd place - Bishop Robert A. Culp speaks after a city council meeting in which a lead-safe rental housing ordinance passed at One Government Center in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Portrait - 3rd place - Gameday+ Meet a Buckeye with Katie Trace of the women's swimming team. Katie poses for a photo at the McCorkle Aquatic Center on the campus of Ohio State University. (Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch)
Sports Feature - 1st place - Ohio State super fan Jon "Big Nut" Peters of Fremont, celebrates as Michigan fans Rachael Kay and Erika Daniel both of Toronto, Canada, grimace during a Big Ten football game in Ann Arbor, Michigan. OSU defeated Michigan, 56-27. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Sports Feature - 2nd place - Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Cam Atkinson knocks the pucks onto the ice for warm-ups prior to a NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)
Sports Feature - 3rd place - Olentangy's Ethan Wise (76) and Nathan Rudawsky (80) console each other as they walk to the locker room after a 35-14 loss to Toledo Central Catholic in a Division II regional final game at Frost-Kalnow Stadium in Tiffin. (Shane Flanigan / ThisWeek Community News)
Sports Feature - HM - Central Catholic's Dahveyon Greer (32) sheds tears after the team's 35-21 loss in a Division II state football semifinal game against Cincinnati La Salle hosted at Sidney High School. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Spot News - 1st place - A Cincinnati firefighter rests between search party shifts inside the building at the scene of a partial building collapse at the construction site on W. 4th Street between Race and Elm Streets in downtown Cincinnati. Turner Construction announced that four injured workers were released from the hospital late Monday night, but search and rescue crews worked through the night in search of one missing worker, believed to be dead. (Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Spot News - 2nd place - Mount Vernon firefighter Coty Shellenbarger extinguishes a rekindled fire on Upper Fredericktown Road. A woman was killed in the house fire. The cause of the fire is unknown and remains under investigation. (Joshua Morrison / Mount Vernon News)
Spot News - 3rd place - Springfield Township firefighters put out hot spots and look for a cause for the fire that destroyed a two story house at 600 South Bird Road. Five people were rescued from the second story of the house. (Bill Lackey / Springfield News-Sun)
Sports - 1st place - Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver James Washington (13) stiff arms Cincinnati Bengals cornerback B.W. Webb (23) on a touchdown catch in the third quarter of a game at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The Pittsburgh Steelers won 16-10, and the Bengals fell to 0-11 on the season. (Kareem Elgazzar / The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Sports - 2nd place - South Carolina's Mikiah Herbert Harrigan stretches for a rebound during the 1st quarter of a game against the Dayton Flyers. South Carolina defeated Dayton 75-49 at UD Arena. (Erik Schelkun / Elsestar Images)
Sports - 3rd place - Marion Local's Matt Everman (58) blocks Fort Loramie's Mack Fortman's (78) field goal attempt in the second half of a Division VII regional semifinal game at Grand Lake Health System Field in St. Marys. Marion Local defeated Fort Loramie, 24-21, in overtime. (Daniel Melograna / The Daily Standard)
Sports - HM - Michigan Wolverines running back Hassan Haskins (25) fights off Ohio State safety Jordan Fuller (4) to score a two-point conversion during the 4th quarter of their game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch)
Story - 1st place - Director of the Department of Veterans Services Deborah Ashenhurst talks to Cleo Jones before a service for her brother Army Cpl. Robert Bray who killed in the Korean war. His remains were recently identified at The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and were brought home for interment. A service was held at the Smith-Moore Funeral Home in Bainbridge . (Eric Albrecht / The Columbus Dispatch)
Story - 2nd place - Kent State freshman center Kalin Bennett, the first NCAA Division I athlete with autism, rushes off the court with teammates to ring the victory bell after the Flashes defeated the Hiram College Terriers, 97-58, in their season opener at the MAC Center in Kent. (Jeff Lange / Akron Beacon Journal)
Story - 3rd place - John Savage leads a prayer during a Thanksgiving dinner open to the community at the M.L.K. Kitchen for the Poor in Toledo. Over 200 people were served a hot meal. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
