North Bend runner Steven Garboden signs his letter of intent for the University of San Francisco during a ceremony Wednesday afternoon. On the left is his cross country coach Tracy Heley and his mother, Rhonda McEntire, is on the right. World Photo by Lou Sennick.

NORTH BEND — Steven Garboden didn’t start running until his sophomore year at North Bend.

On Wednesday, the senior signed a national letter of intent to compete in cross country and track and field for the University of San Francisco.

“Steven is a poster child for what can happen if you try something different and have goals and work for those goals,” said North Bend track coach Steve Greif.

Both Greif and North Bend cross country coach Tracy Heley had praise for Garboden and how being part of the teams at North Bend made him a better student and person. They said that lesson could be an example for all the other members of the track team who watched Wednesday’s signing ceremony in the school’s gymnasium lobby.

“Every time I think about Steven, I think he is someone whose dreams have grown,” Heley said, adding Garboden’s hard work helped make him an outstanding athlete. “Everyone is capable of that.”

Garboden had narrowed his college choices to San Francisco and Eastern Washington University. He was sold on the San Francisco school after his visit there with coach Tom Kloos.

“I have grown really fond of my two coaches here,” he said of Heley and Greif. “That’s what I was looking for in a college coach.”

Garboden believes he can have a similar relationship with Kloos.

“I need that,” he said. “If I can’t feel that person is 100 percent with the decisions I make, it’s harder to get motivated to reach my potential.”

Garboden contributed to North Bend’s cross country team as a sophomore, running at the state meet, but was injured during the track season that school year. He made a huge jump his junior year, placing 25th at the state cross country meet to help the Bulldogs win the title and then finishing seventh in the 3,000 meters at the state track meet.

Last fall, he became a legend among North Bend distance runners when he helped the Bulldogs to another state championship by finishing fourth at the cross country meet. What will go down in history, at least as much as his place at state, is how he recovered from a serious foot injury just two weeks before the meet and managed to run as well as he did.

“Even at my advanced age, I learned a lesson there that you never give up,” Greif said. “That was a tremendous lesson for all of us.”

Both Greif and Heley said running helped provide a focus for Garboden, which in turn made him an even better student.

“He was probably going to be a good student,” Greif said. “He’s a better student because of athletics.”

“Being a part of cross country and track, Steven found himself and someplace he fit,” Heley said.

Garboden credits running with helping shape his future in education.

“I didn’t think of going to college until I got involved in running,” he said.

Now he’s going to a Division I university with athletic and academic scholarships that will pay for all but about $2,000 a year of his education.

“I’m very excited,” he said. “I can’t wait.”

Garboden plans to study exercise science at San Francisco, with a goal of transferring to Pacific to study physical therapy after he graduates.

Garboden is the second Bulldog distance runner to sign with a Division I school in the last few weeks. Fellow senior Spenser Lynass is headed to Colorado State next fall.

Junior Trevor Berrian, the third standout member of North Bend’s distance crew, would like to be in the same situation next year.

“It’s pretty inspiring,” he said of his senior teammates getting scholarships. “I’d really like to go to a Division I school.”

He said Garboden’s rise to success has been inspirational.

“I feel it’s come easy for me,” Berrian said. “That gives me great respect for Steven. He works a lot harder than I do.”