Feature - 1st place - Heather Pereces, snuggles her daughter Brooklyn, 6, in their Uhrichsville home. Brooklyn, who is on the Autism spectrum, is among seven children raised by Heather - two from a previous marriage, and two adopted, and three with her current husband. (Andrew Dolph / The Times Reporter)
Feature - 2nd place - People watch the total solar eclipse at the University of Toledo’s Glass Bowl on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Feature - 3rd place - Jadyn White and her three-year-old daughter Melanie Gonzales play together outside in Toledo. (Jonathan Aguilar / The Blade)
General News - 1st place - UT students throw brightly colored powders on each other during the Holi Toledo festival at the University of Toledo. Holi is a Hindu festival that originated in India and symbolizes the arrival of spring, the end of winter and the blossoming of love. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
General News - 2nd place - Michael Hatfield (right) consoles his brother Nicholas Phillips as Phillips speak to the media ahead of a vigil being held outside Swan Boat Club in Newport, Michigan. They are both uncles of Zayn and Alanah Phillips. People gathered to pay their respects where two young siblings, Zayn, 4, and Alanah, 8, were killed after an alleged drunk driver crashed into the building during a birthday party on April 20. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
General News - 3rd place - At left Raquel Smouthers, aunt of the two children who were killed when a car driven by Marshella Chidester plowed into the Swan Boat Club, is comforted after speaking during Chidester’s arraignment at the Monroe County Courthouse in Monroe, Michigan. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Portrait - 1st place - Joyce Clemens feeds her dogs Jake and Zoe grain free food during Passover in Elmore. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Portrait - 2nd place - Rachel Dudley, an assistant professor in women's and gender studies at the University of Toledo, poses for a portrait at University Hall. Dudley studies the exploitation of enslaved women in the development of modern gynecology. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Portrait - 3rd place - Cindy Bench, photographed at Tatum Park in Toledo, is a recipient of the 2024 Serve Ohio Volunteer Award in recognition of contributions that have helped local communities. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Sports Feature - 1st place - Dayton's Nolan Watson gets swarmed by his teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run against George Mason. The Flyers defeated George Mason 17-14. (Erik Schelkun / Elsestar Images)
Sports Feature - 2nd place - Dayton catcher Treston Nemeth blows bubbles in the bullpen during a game against George Mason. Dayton defeated Mason 17-14. (Erik Schelkun / Elsestar Images)
Sports Feature - 3rd place - Toledo fans heckle Kalamazoo’s Chaz Reddekopp during the first period of an ECHL playoff hockey game at the Huntington Center in Toledo. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Sports Feature - HM - Cassandra Daleski (left) embraces her boyfriend Marshall Kent after he beat Anthony Simonsen to win the 2024 PBA Tournament of Champions at AMF Riviera Lanes in Akron. (Jeff Lange / Akron Beacon Journal)
Spot News - 1st place - The young driver involved in a two vehicle accident is comforted by a bystander at the intersection of North Street and Fountain Avenue. The two people in the Jeep in the background had to be rescued from their overturned vehicle. They were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The accident closed the intersection for a half hour while it was cleaned up. (Bill Lackey / Springfield News-Sun)
Spot News - 2nd place - A Windham resident searches through rubble for belongings after Wednesday night’s EF-1 tornado. (Jeff Lange / Akron Beacon Journal)
Spot News - 3rd place - Aherin Silver surveys the damage done to his property from the third floor of his home on Windham - Parkman Road the morning after an F1 tornado skipped through the village, in Windham. Silver said he was on the third floor of his home when the tornado came through. (Jeff Lange / Akron Beacon Journal)
Sports - 1st place - Runners make their way under the Upton Avenue bridge as they begin the 2024 Glass City Marathon in Toledo. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Sports - 2nd place - Anthony Wayne’s Kat Meyers loses the ball after tagging Perrysburg’s Morgan Hoverman on the baseline during a Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division softball game at Anthony Wayne High School. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Sports - 3rd place - Dayton first baseman Edie Yamin IV makes a catch over the fence at Woerner field during a game against George Mason. (Erik Schelkun / Elsestar Images)
Story - 1st place - Jeff Willis, of Erie, Michigan watches the eclipse from the parking lot during BGSU’s Total Solar Eclipse Watch Party at Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Story - 2nd place - Midland, Michigan residents Vicki Wakeman and 8-year-old David Wakeman watch as the eclipse nears totality at the University of Toledo’s Glass Bowl. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Story - 3rd place - Jackson Rugero, originally from the Congo, celebrates becoming a U.S. citizen during a naturalization ceremony at the University of Findlay’s Koehler Fitness and Recreation Complex. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
