Sisters and Columbia High alumni Hannah and Jessica Polkinghorn at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships earlier this month.
Sisters and Columbia High alumni Hannah and Jessica Polkinghorn at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships earlier this month.
WHITE SALMON — Columbia High School graduates Hannah and Jessica Polkinghorn, both Western Washington University (WWU) students, competed at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 4-5.
Hannah, a senior majoring in linguistics, competed in the long jump, 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. She finished the meet with lifetime bests in both the long jump (18-feet, 10.5-inches) and the 100m (11.97 — the third fastest time in WWU history). Her long jump earned her second place and All-GNAC honors. She also placed sixth in the 100m, fifth in the 200m, and was part of Western’s 4x100m relay team that set a new school record with a time of 45.89 seconds, finishing second overall.
Jessica, a sophomore kinesiology major, competed in the javelin, shot put, and discus. She won the javelin with a lifetime-best throw of 152-feet, 11-inches, currently the 15th best mark in NCAA Division II this season. She also placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 44-feet, 9.5-inches. Her season-best throw of 48-feet, 9.5-inches ranks 12th nationally in Division II this year. She also finished 14th in discus.
Up next for Jessica, a two-time All-American in shot put (Outdoor 2025 and Indoor 2026), is the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in both the shot put and javelin at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, on May 22-23.
Both Hannah and Jessica were also named to the 2026 GNAC All-Academic Team. Hannah maintained a 3.41 GPA and Jessica a 3.86 GPA.
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