Trae Collins is a giant who is called a teddy bear by friends.

He worked in the shadow of North Bend standout Elliot Adams for three years and has enjoyed extensive success in all his sports as a senior.

His throws coach with the Bulldogs said he has both a quiet, cocky nature when competing and a personality that makes him loved by all.

And after two agonizing near-misses with a chance to go to state in track and field, this could be Collins’ time to shine.

Collins will complete his high school career either Saturday at the Far West League district meet in Florence or, ideally, next week at the state meet in Eugene.

“It would mean a lot to me,” Collins said of qualifying for state. “I’ve known I could do it since my freshman year.”

That’s when Collins had the first of his great disappointments at the district meet.

He was second in the discus until the sixth round of the competition, when Adams passed him on his final throw.

After a frustrating sophomore year when he didn’t throw well at the league meet, Collins had an even more crushing district experience — twice — last year.

In the shot put, he was second behind Adams until the fifth round of the competition. Then Michael Ruppert of Douglas beat him — by less than 6 inches.

As agonizing as that was, the discus was worse. Collins and Ruppert tied for second behind Adams with throws of 139 feet, 5 inches.

The tiebreaker in throwing events is the best second throw, and Ruppert’s toss of 137-4 bested Collins’ mark of 135-6.

Collins is determined to not have another heart-breaking experience this time. He’s seeded first in the shot put and ranked fourth in Class 4A with his career-best mark of 50 feet, 5 inches. In the discus, Ruppert is the top seed, and the Class 4A leader, but Collins is close behind, and ranks third in the state.

“Trae has come back with a vengeance this year,” said North Bend head coach Steve Greif. “He has definite goals. When he achieves them, coach (Jake) Smith and I and Trae will be very excited.”

Smith, who has worked with Collins for four years, said the senior is a joy to coach.

“In practice, he’s definitely a hard worker,” Smith said. “He likes to throw.”

Collins also has been a great teammate.

“His sense of humor and his leadership has been important to our team,” Greif said.

“He’s a bigger kid than everybody else physically,” said Smith of Collins, who has grown to 6-feet-7-inches tall and about 250 pounds. “For whatever reason, he gets along as well with the freshmen as the seniors.

“He’s got this funny cockiness about him, but at the same time, everybody just likes him and he treats everybody nice.”

Collins said he’s always had a gentle personality.

“A lot of my friends call me a big teddy bear,” he said. “I’m really big, but I’m kind of a nice guy.”

He also is a fierce competitor.

Collins wasn’t a starter in football until this year, but he was named first-team all-league in the Far West League on both offense and defense and was the defensive player of the year for the league. He also received honorable mention all-state recognition on both offense and defense and was chosen for the East-West Shrine Game.

In basketball, after being a reserve behind Adams, a four-year starter, for two seasons, Collins finally got his spot in the starting rotation and was a consistent scorer inside. He also exhibited a delicate touch from the foul line, and was a first-team all-league selection.

He has continued that success through track season, earning the respect of Greif.

“I truly admire any senior who continues to be a three-sport athlete,” Greif said. “He’s definitely one of our team leaders, both physically and emotionally. He fires us up.

“He’s had a great senior year — to be so valuable for all three sports.”

Collins rates the three sports evenly when asked to pick a favorite. He has a scholarship offer to compete in track and field at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls and may try out for the Owls’ basketball team as well. He plans to study pre-med and eventually pursue a doctorate degree in physical therapy.

Collins has enjoyed the success and recognition he has had as a senior.

“It’s really nice,” he said. “I knew all along I was decent. I never got the attention because Elliot was there.”

He doesn’t hold any grudges, though.

“Elliot’s good,” he said. “I give him a lot of credit.”

Collins would love to follow the success Adams had last spring, which included a state shot put title.

He’s frustrated that he hasn’t improved much in the discus, but said his first 50-foot effort in the shot put was a season highlight.

“It was almost like a high,” Collins said. “Finally doing it in a meet was great.”

The discus has always been his favorite event, and he would love to qualify for the state meet in both throws.

His quest starts with the discus today at the district meet in Florence.

He admits being excited, but quickly adds, “I’m trying not to get too worked up for it.”

Collins wants to put the disappointments of the past district meets behind him.

“The last few years were agonizing,” he said. “It’s also a good feeling standing there knowing I’ve done what I need to do — it’s just doing it at the right time.”