Of course it's not too late to become excellent. In almost three years, you will be demonstrating to a college recruiter, though examination of your transcript at the end of your senior year, that you may have slacked off a bit in Freshman year, (many people do), but that you got it together, matured, and have been bearing down ever since. They love to see a rehabilitated slacker! LOL. Go for it!
They need to see growth as evidenced by increasingly better grades, a good strong SAT score (take it as many times as you can, because you can improve between takes by working those SAT books and taking a SAT refresher course offered by many school districts), and probably most important of all, though they are drawn to a high rank position, they need to see that you took challenging courses, such as Honors, Advanced, AP (and take the AP exam for each AP course), as well as higher level math, science, Senior year English, plus electives that challenged. They like to see dual credit courses from the local college with grades of B or better. And in case of a tie, they also love to see that you have done extensive community service, and participated in extracurricular activiites. Create the image/profile of a well-rounded student, with people skills and generosity of spirit, as well as taking care of your academic business, and you'll have no trouble getting into a college you will respect, probably with scholarships.
I can advise all this because I was recently the Academic Coordinator at a Magnet Engineering high school, and these are the criteria that interest and impress most college entrance committees.
Good for you for becoming concerned now, while you still have a chance to reinvent yourself!