With a fast run at the Far West League district meet Saturday, North Bend senior Mike Forbes stamped himself as one of the state’s top sprinters.

Amazingly, he almost never put on a track uniform for the Bulldogs.

“Sports didn’t interest me until junior year, when I started lifting weights,” Forbes said this week as he prepared for the Class 4A state meet, which starts Friday in Eugene.

Forbes might not have gone out for the track team if he hadn’t posted one of the top times in school history in the 40-yard dash in his weight training class.

“Growing up, I always knew I was fast compared to my friends, but I didn’t think I’d perform well on the state level,” Forbes said.

Matt McKenna, who teaches the weight training class, said if Forbes was surprised by his speed, he was the only person.

“The kids all knew he was fast,” McKenna said. “It was no secret.”

Forbes went out for track the first time as a junior, but was injured and saw his season end after just two meets. Even though his season was short, he fell in love with sprinting.

“I was motivated to do it senior year,” he said. “I started lifting more.”

Forbes quickly saw the impact weight lifting had on his speed.

“(As a) freshman and sophomore, I was really small,” he said. “I wasn’t a muscular kid.”

Forbes has increased his weight from about 125 pounds as a sophomore to 160 now.

“He likes to train,” said McKenna, who has enjoyed watching his success on the track. “I’m really happy for him. It’s nice that he can be there for the whole season.”

Forbes hasn’t been injury free this year. He has battled shin splints the entire season, but has managed to work through the pain.

“We’ve been as careful as we can with his shins,” said North Bend track coach Steve Greif. “He’s done a good job of listening to (sprint) coach Angie Duvall.”

Greif credits Duvall with tailoring workouts for Forbes and knowing how much to work her sprinter.

“She’s done a nice job of pushing Mike, but backing off when he needed to,” Greif said.

The results have been impressive.

Forbes was champion in the 100 and 200 meters at both the Coos County Meet and the Prefontaine Rotary Invitational, as well as most of North Bend’s other meets.

“I’ve had a bad meet, but that happens to everyone,” he said.

His bad day was at the Jim Robinson Twilight Invitational in Roseburg in early April, when his shins were particularly painful and he had to pull out of the 200 and didn’t run well in the 100.

The next week, he broke the county meet record in the 100.

At the district meet in Florence, Forbes and Sutherlin’s Greg Mock put on a show in the sprints.

In the 100, Mock edged Forbes in a photo finish. Mock was timed in 11.02 and Forbes in 11.03 — times that rank No. 2 and No. 3 in Class 4A.

Forbes said he had a bad start — which he considers his strength — and still had a good chance to win.

Greif was thrilled with the response Forbes had to the race.

“I was proud of him at district,” he said. “He hadn’t lost since Roseburg. I didn’t know how he’d react.

“But he went over and shook the guy’s hand, then he went out and ran a huge PR in the 200.”

In the latter race, Mock again won, in 22.20 seconds. Forbes was second in 22.28. Both times rank in the top 10 for all classifications in Oregon this spring.

“I know my 200 time dropped quite a bit because I really ran the corner,” said Forbes.

He said his stamina has improved from working out, making the 200 easier.

Greif, a history teacher and track historian, said Forbes has moved up the school’s rankings in both sprints. He’s now No. 4 in the 100 and No. 3 in the 200.

“He’s in the elite group in North Bend history in the sprints,” Greif said. “It’s neat to see it happen. He hasn’t had a lot of notoriety in other areas.”

Forbes grew up in a family that wasn’t into sports much, and aside from track had only tried football for part of one season, which didn’t work out.

Now he’s a big track fan.

“I’m really happy,” he said. “I’ve grown pretty close to the sport now. I like it.”

He was inspired by the Olympics last summer and also feels a connection to the team.

“I want to help the team win,” he said. “That’s how my coach is.

“He makes everyone really close. He wants the whole team to feel it’s a team sport.”

North Bend has a shot at a trophy this week, though defending champion Sweet Home is expected to repeat its title.

Forbes will play a major role in North Bend’s hopes.

“I’m just real pleased how Mike has come along this year,” Greif said. “He’s been a major contributor to our successes. I give him a lot of credit for hanging in there with an injury.”

At state, Forbes has a good chance of being North Bend’s top sprints placer since school record holder Tim Varga placed fourth in 1984 and 1985.

Then there’s a little unfinished business in weight training.

McKenna only lets the students run one 40-yard dash for time to try to move up the record list each term.

Since McKenna started keeping records, Shawn Mitchell has the best time with a 4.37, while Forbes is next at 4.38.

McKenna suspects a new record in the near future.

“He’s never had a couple months of training behind him,” he said of Forbes.