By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
A handful of Laguna Madre athletes will be competing in the upcoming 2026 AAU Junior Olympics. This year the event will be held in Des Moines, Iowa and is set to commence this upcoming Wednesday, July 29 and run to August 8, 2026.
Former Baylor track director and current Port Isabel track coach Todd Harbour stated PIHS has always had great athletes that could’ve participated in multi-events, but did agree it was uncommon.
Soon to be Eighth grader, Adalyn Samaniego, had a very successful first track season. While competing against other Middle school athletes from the surrounding area in the BISD Middle School District Meet, Samaniego won all her five events. She did so well that she caught the attention of coach Harbour who suggested she take up summer track and compete in the Pentathlon event- a multi-event competition comprised of the following events, the 800 Meters, 100m Hurdles, Shot Put, High Jump, and Long Jump.
This past June she competed at the AAU South Texas – Central District Qualifier where she finished in second place in the Pentathlon with a 1777 score, qualifying her for the AAU Junior Olympics. Among the five events she has competed in Samaniego favors the High Jump, while the one event she looks to improve on the most is the 800 Meters run.
A multi-sport athlete, Samaniego also competes in soccer, volleyball, basketball, and cross country.
Joining Samaniego to the JOs are Layla Mata and Elle Wall, soon to be 11th and 12th graders respectively. They will be both competing in the Heptathlon, a multi-event that has competitors competing in seven individual events. A step up from the Pentathlon, it adds the 200 Meters run and the Javelin throw to the competition.
Mata started track since her seventh-grade year and has been participating in the long jump, pole vault, hurdles, high jump, with the last two events coach Harbour views as keys to participating in multi-events competition.
“I was already into a lot of events and coach Harbour had seen that I was a little talented in those events. So, he decided to show me the multi and that’s when I realized that I had lot of fun in it. I really enjoyed it.” Said Mata.
Mata is on her third season of summer track competition. Back in 2024, Mata finished in sixth place at the USATF Junior Olympics. In 2025, Mata suffered an injury in early summer, delaying her JO’s aspirations. After finishing in second place in the (15-16 Years Old) 2026 AAU qualifier, Mata is ready to showcase her talents on the national stage.
Mata also participates in cross-country, basketball, volleyball, and cheer.
Like Samaniego and Mata, Wall also came away from the 2026 AAU qualifier with a silver medal finish. Wall is peaking at the right time, she set six new personal records at this past qualifier. This is Wall’s second trip to the AAU Junior Olympics’, after finishing in 8th place in 2025 JOs with a score of 4007, earning All-American honors.
Caught up with Wall after practice and she stated practices are going “pretty good, getting ready for nationals, training hard”. She’s looking forward to the JOs as she has a goal of placing high and hopefully setting new personal records in all her events.
Wall has caught the attention of UT-Arlington as they have already reached to her out to her in hopes she runs track for them. Besides running track, Wall also participates in basketball.
Coach Harbour believes the trio is laying a strong foundation for the future of the girls’ multi-events program.
PIECHS has “a good future in the girls’ track program, these three are a big part of it.” Said coach Harbour. “Elle was All-American last year, but they all have a shot to be All-American this year.”