Feature - 1st place - Victor Singleton Jr. (center) dances in confetti with his team during a pep rally to send off Toledo Central Catholic’s football team for their 7th state championship game appearance. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Feature - 2nd place - Kids wait their turn to play the drums during the sixth evening of Toledo Kwanzaa at the Frederick Douglass Center. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Feature - 3rd place - Shari Mullins high fives Amarianna Fitch, 7, after finding the toy she wanted during the annual Shop With a Hero holiday event at Meijer in Maumee. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Feature - HM - Alexus Woodley brings her 5-year-old son, Cameron White, as she gets her master of business administration during fall commencement at the University of Toledo’s Savage Arena. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
General News - 1st place - People react to the Toledo Public School board vote to cut 100 jobs due to budget cuts during a school board meeting at the TPS Board of Education in Toledo. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
General News - 2nd place - Aaron Melby looks at his candle as the congregation sings “Silent Night” in candle light during a Christmas Eve service at First Unitarian Church of Toledo in South Toledo. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
General News - 3rd place - Roy Hemmings participates in welding class as part a workforce development program] at the Cherry Street Mission in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
General News - HM - Miami Valley Dance Company dancers perform during Holly Days at Dayton Arcade. (Bryant Billing / Dayton Daily News)
Illustration - 1st place - Sweet Potato Casserole (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Portrait - 1st place - Geo Washington Jr. voluntarily walks the downtown community offering resources for the unhoused community in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Portrait - 2nd place - Jamie Osborn with her 11-month-old golden retriever Aziraphale, a service dog in training, and in the foreground, 11-year-old English cream golden retriever Thor, her retired service dog, at her home in Perrysburg. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Portrait - 3rd place - Joe Irving stands beside a sign he built outside his home to protest the construction of a Seneca Poultry barn down the road in Seneca Township. (Addison Annis / The Blade)
Portrait - HM - Cristian Overmyer, 4, plays in the bouncy balls during Sensory Friendly Day at Urban Air Adventure Park in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Sports Feature - 1st place - A young Toledo Cherokee hockey player grabs an armful of stuffed animals as he and his teammates help clean up after the teddy bear toss in the first period of an ECHL hockey game at the Huntington Center in Toledo. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Sports Feature - 2nd place - New University of Toledo football coach Mike Jacobs (right) autographs a helmet for John Mossing after the introductory news conference at UT’s Savage Arena in Toledo. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Sports Feature - 3rd place - Dayton Cheerleader Mary Caprretta perfoms a stunt during a time out of the Dayton vs Florida State mens basketball game at UD Arena in Dayton, (Erik Schelkun / Elsestar Images)
Sports Feature - HM - Sidney players on the team's bench cheer after a teammate made a basket during a Miami Valley League game against Stebbins in Sidney. The Yellow Jackets trailed 25-11 at halftime and rallied to pull within one point in the fourth quarter, but Stebbins pulled away late for a 40-31 win. (Bryant Billing / Dayton Daily News)
Sports - 1st place - Toledo’s Cadence Dykstra (left) steals the ball from Northern Iowa’s Maren Schmotzer at UT’s Savage Arena in Toledo. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Sports - 2nd place - Austin Parks of Toledo grapples for the rebound as a host of Lourdes players attempt to block him during a game at Savage Arena in Toledo. (Addison Annis / The Blade)
Sports - 3rd place - University of Toledo guard Manor Strong battles against Western Michigan University guard Jalen Griffith for the ball during a MAC basketball game at Savage Arena in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Sports - HM - Javon Ruffin of Bowling Green makes a layup as Almar Atlason and Brant Byers of Miami attempt to block him during a game at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green. (Addison Annis / The Blade)
![General News - 3rd place - Roy Hemmings participates in welding class as part a workforce development program] at the Cherry Street Mission in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)](images/December_genews_3.jpg)
