First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"The Golden Gate Bridge is seen at dusk in San Francisco. While tourists stroll up and down it every day, on average someone jumps to their death every 13 days. Unlike other iconic structures, this bridge does not have a suicide barrier. After the Gamboa family lost their son to suicide, they resolved to do everything they could to campaign for a suicide barrier.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"Kathy Contway remembers her grandson, Kyle Gamboa, 18, who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge to his death in 2013. She says that grandparents are often the "forgotten mourners" during tragedies like this.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"A flock of birds flies beneath the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. At 11:45 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2013 Kyle stopped his truck in the middle of the highway, stepped out, ran onto the pedestrian walkway and jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge to his death.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"Drawings of Kyle hang at his home in Sacramento. His classmates drew the portraits a few days after his death, and his family has never taken them down.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"Manuel Gamboa III sits on his bed in San Francisco. He is two years older than his brother Kyle and says that he never told him that he was struggling with anything. Manuel's favorite last memory was going to the California State Fair weeks before Kyle's death and spending time together – just the two of them.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"Manuel Gamboa, Jr. looks around the unchanged bedroom of his son Kyle in Sacramento. He is still searching for answers as to why Kyle commit suicide five years earlier.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"Kymberlyrenee Gamboa, Kyle's mother, refuses to wash the last cup Kyle drank from. He had stopped at a McDonald's to get orange juice and a sandwich on his drive to San Francisco before jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"The bay as seen from the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the second most popular place in the world to commit suicide after China’s Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. Unlike other iconic structures like the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building, this does not have a suicide barrier.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"Priya Clemens, left, director of public affairs, and Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, public affairs specialist, both for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, watch an update on the construction of the suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"Erika Brooks, who lost her adopted daughter to a Golden Gate Bridge suicide, writes names of other suicide victims at Baker Beach. Throughout the day, families and friends take turns writing every recorded name of a bridge suicide victim - around 2,000 - in the sand and watch the waves wash them away.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"Kathy Contway, far right, Kyle's grandmother, holds hands with survivors as Dana Bark, third from left, burns sage at Baker Beach. Dana lost his son Donavan Bark to a Golden Gate Bridge suicide in 2008 and started "Names in the Sand."
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Liz Moughon / Ohio University, "Finding Kyle"According to witnesses, on Sept. 20, 2013, Kyle drove across the bridge southbound coming from Sacramento, turned his truck around and jumped near Pole 77.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, "Teen Mother"
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, "Teen Mother"Brooke Winfield, 17, is a mother to a two-year-old son. Brooke found out she was pregnant at age 14, made the decision to keep her baby, find a job and support her child. Though Brooke's journey has been bumpy, she is knows that her son has "pushed (her) to do a lot better for (her)self and for him." Winfield watches over her son Vincent, 2, as he naps on the couch in Evansville, Ind. on September 17, 2017.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, "Teen Mother"Brooke Winfield closes a drawer that Vincent had reached into while she puts on makeup in the morning in Evansville, Ind. on Nov. 28, 2018. Brooke knows she has given up much of her ability to be a "normal teenager."
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, "Teen Mother"Brooke listens to a lecture in her Early Childhood course at Ivy Tech Community College in Evansville, Ind. on Sept. 9, 2017. Brooke graduated high school with 9 college credits, and plans to attend USI in the fall and start working towards her nursing degree.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, "Teen Mother"Brooke talks with her friends at AIS High School during a school family night in Evansville, Ind. on Sept. 7, 2017. School has provided a supportive network for Brooke, not only with staff members, but friends who understand what she is going through.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, "Teen Mother"Vincent cries before Brooke leaves for work after dropping him at a relative's home in Evansville, Ind. on Sept. 12, 2017. "Its been a rollercoaster," said Brooke. "Sometimes you will have bad days, but with Vincent it's just pushed me to do a lot better for myself and for him.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, "Teen Mother"At North Park Nursing Center, Brooke uses a stern voice with a resident to help her transition from the bed to the wheelchair in Evansville, Ind. on Oct. 19, 2017. Eventually Brooke needed the help of two other staff members. As a certified nursing assistant (CNA), Brooke cares for adults by doing everything from delivering meals to changing their clothes and helping them shower. Between raising Vincent and her job as a CNA, she spends much of her time caring for others.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, " Teen Mother"After taking off her heels because of a blister, Brooke waits to walk on stage at graduation at AIS Diamond High School on May 22, 2018. "I was really nervous, but once I took my shoes off, I didn't have anything to be nervous about," Brooke said.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Marlena Sloss / Ohio University, "Teen Mother"Brooke does dishes in her home before going to work while keeping an eye on Vincent on Nov. 16, 2017. "I'm 17, but I feel like I've became an adult at an early age." While her father helps her care for Vincent, she is still expected to keep up with her household chores.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Dozens of young swimmers learn to kick in the water at Ziegler Pool during their first swim practice as the brand new swim team called Over-the-Rhine Rhinos, May 30, 2018. The swimmers range in ages from 4 to 13.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Elsa McEwan and Layla Porter learn how to kick during the first swim practice of the Over-the-Rhine Rhinos, May 30, 2018. The team held practices five days a week. Most of the team members did not know how to swim on the first day.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos" Aria Groomes hesitates before jumping off the diving board at Ziegler Park. Coach Emma Vansteenkiste waits below. The swim team organizers aimed for the program to help the children feel safe, strong and confident in the water.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Ariana Davis floats in the water during practice on June 8. If the team members attended practice, they were able to visit the pool for free. Most of the participants were previously not members.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Coach Ludo Corsini helps Kamarly Johnson during warmups. A record-holding swimmer, Corsini remembers his first practices as a boy in Milan, Italy, and holding on to his swim instructor in the pool.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Kamilah Johnson stretches during warmups before a practice. The group wears swim caps featuring a logo design from Cincy Shirts, a company located just blocks away from Ziegler Park.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Ziegler Park is located on Sycamore Street, nudged between homes and businesses, restaurants and bars. The park is named for the first mayor of Cincinnati.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"One weekday morning, D’Marco McCay didn't have his goggles for practice, so he squeezed his eyes tight when he went underwater. As he glided through the water, a grin spread across his face.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Myla McKinney and Ben Yisrael take a break during a Rhinos practice.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Aria Groomes reaches the wall during the final meet, July 28, 2018.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Rhinos"Jayden Davis stands on the edge of the pool for the final meet, July 28, 2018 at Ziegler Pool.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Abdelrahman Nofal (Abood) of Gaza, lost his left leg to an Israeli soldier’s bullet as he played soccer near a protest. Through the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, he spent months in the USA receiving a prosthesis. Abood rests on Omar Mujahed’s shoulder during a piggy-back ride. Omar is a brother of Hanadi Mujahed, who was one of Abood’s teachers during his time in the United States. Abood would occasionally spend the day or even weekend with Hanadi and her brothers.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Abood tries to remember how to say “water-cooler” in English after his teacher, Hanadi Mujahed, asks. During some of his time in the United States, Abood attended school at the Yunus Emre Muslim Community Center, where he grew close to Hanadi.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"At his twelfth birthday party, Abood pops a balloon. Members of the Kent State chapter of the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, the organization that brought Abood to the United States to receive free treatment, threw the party. By the end of the night, Abood popped all the balloons in the room, laughing and making jokes each time.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Abood reacts in embarrassment after Hanadi points out that a note he drew and proudly displayed contained a backwards “N”.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Clutching at his blanket as he watches “Little Rascals” in English, which he does not speak, with his host Yousef Mousa and Yousef’s sister, Sama, Abood mocks Donald Trump after seeing him appear on screen. On Abood’s hand is written “I (heart) Palestin”. Before he was able to move well on his prosthetic, he told Hanadi that all he wanted to do was go home and die for his country.” As time went on, he grew happier, and told her that was no longer his dream.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Abood does pushups on his crutches in the Mousa’s family room.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Abood pulls on Yousef’s arm as they leave prayer, trying to get his attention. The two shared a close relationship during Abood’s time in the United States, one Yousef compared to brotherhood.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Yousef Mousa pulls Abood from the swimming pool. Abood did not want to leave, and had been refusing to get out of the water.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"After walking for nearly four hours at the Cleveland Zoo on his new prosthesis, an exhausted Abood sits and recovers.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"The Mujahed brothers pick up Abood, carrying him in response to his complaints about walking, as Abood pretends to celebrate a soccer goal.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Abood climbs onto a fence, trying to see the dog barking on the other side.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Nathaniel Bailey / Kent State University, "Abood: Relief from Conflict"Noor Bahhur tearfully kisses Abood goodbye before her father drove him to the airport, telling him to stay in touch. For the last few weeks of his time in the United States, Abood lived with the Bahhur family, growing very close to Noor and her brother Omar. “I think he saw us as siblings,” Noor said. “For a boy who’s 11, who lost his leg, he never had a dull moment. I’ve never seen him without a smile — even though he’s thousands of miles away from his family.”
