THE THIN MAN : UCLA Offer of a Scholarship Will Keep Everett on Track

Johnnie Ausbon is coaching what looks to be a perfect running machine.

But unlike a certain soft drink saboteur, who felt compelled to tinker with the real thing, the Fairfax track coach has no plans to trifle with Mother Nature.

“He’s a natural,” Ausbon said. “Just an exceptional kid. I’m not going to take credit for that. He’s a very good athlete, doing what he’s supposed to do. No gripes, just goes out and does the job, using the ability he has.

“Sure, I give him the workouts and work with him on his starts and give him encouragement, but Danny is a natural. He can run. I feel Danny is a champion, this year. It’s his turn.”

The natural is Fairfax senior Danny Everett, the City Section champion in the 200- and 400-meter sprints and the favorite to take home titles in both events at the state meet Friday and Saturday at Sacramento.

At first glance, however, this 6-1 1/2, thin-as-a hockey-stick runner raises doubts. Indeed, when Everett is at rest, one wonders if it is safe for this 140-pound pair of legs to be standing. Movement would appear to be unsafe at any speed.

“People were surprised about Danny this year,” Ausbon said. “But I think he was always this good. See, he’s never had a good start. But when he gets those legs turning over at 60 to 70 yards out, forget it. He’s constantly accelerating. There’s no limit.

“But last year, he had been winning by running the 400 from behind and then coming on to win. However, in the City final against good competition, he couldn’t do that. He wound up eighth. So no one knew him.

“The final taught him something. And then came Arcadia.”

It was this year’s Arcadia Invitational on a cool evening in April. Everett stunned defending state champion Chip Rish of Huntington Beach Marina, cruising the 400 in 46.79, then a national best.

A few weeks later at Mt. San Antonio College, he crossed the finish line in 46.71. Just over a week ago, at the Pepsi Invitational, he was clocked in 46.19. For good measure, he tossed in a wind-aided 20.90 in the semifinals of the City 200.

The thin man had arrived.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get fat,” Everett said. “But before I get to college I’d like to weigh about 150 as long as it converts to muscle. Right now, I’m running on natural leg speed. When I get older I’ll need more upper body strength.

“You know at Arcadia, I experimented really. Last year, I only ran for Aus (Ausbon) because I respect him highly. I only wanted to please him, but he expected so much. I guess I knew I could do it, I just didn’t think I was ready. But Aus and Carl (assistant coach Carl Jenkins) kept telling me I had to get out fast.

“So I took off fast, faster than I ever have, and it worked out. I came around the turn and I was in front. I was surprised, but I was more surprised at how fast word of what I’d done spread. A guy from Washington called and said he’d read about me up there. I couldn’t believe it.”

The publicity was welcome because it not only brought college scouts but produced an eventual scholarship offer from UCLA that saved the 18-year-old native of Sherman, Tex., from the most unrelenting recruiter of all, Uncle Sam.

“It’s a long story, but one day I was sitting in my counselor’s office and I was kidding with him,” said Everett, an animated storyteller. “I said, ‘Maybe I should join the Army.’ And as soon as I said it, a recruiter from the Army walked through the door. Honest. I swear.

“He said, ‘Are you interested in going to the Army?’ And before I could answer my counselor said, ‘Oh, sure, he’s very interested. He’d do well in the Army.’

“I was thinking, ‘How am I going to get myself out of this one?’ ”

The joke grew serious when Everett took preliminary tests and then decided to enlist. Since his specialty choices of navigation and aircraft maintenance were unavailable, however, the Army decided Everett had what it takes to be a fine cook.

That recipe didn’t sit well with his mother, Grace McMillan. In fact, it pushed her past the boiling point.

“Boy, my mom was mad at me,” Everett said. “She said, ‘You signed up to be a cook! You can be a cook at McDonald’s.’ She didn’t talk to me for a while.

“So I went back and said to the Army, ‘If I get a scholarship, will you guys let me out?’ And I don’t think they believed I’d get one, so they said, ‘Sure, we don’t want to hold you back.’ ”

Everett’s performance at Arcadia probably made the Army regret its promise, but when UCLA got Everett’s signature, the brass graciously let Everett get back on track. Even so, sometimes he’d rather be anyplace else.

“My God, I’m so sick of the 400 when I work out,” he said. “I say to Aus, ‘I wish I never ran a 46.’ I hate it in practice. But when I get on the track in a big meet I make a hypocrite of myself because when I’m running the race, I love it all over again.”

Everett’s only disappointment this season was the recent emergency appendectomy suffered by Hawthorne’s Henry Thomas, the defending state champion in the 100 and 200. Thomas is also heading to UCLA in the fall.

“I like to test myself against the best. That’s why I love big meets because I run to the occasion,” Everett said. “Being fast is a gift I guess. I never thought about it. But now I notice it whenever I accelerate. It feels good.

“I feel sorry for Henry because I know what he’s going through. Not knowing if he could have done it again.

“Even if I win, I’ll still consider him the champion. You’ve got to knock out the champion on the track.”

Whether Everett’s exuberance will carry him to a state double and beyond, is subject to conjecture. But Ausbon, for one, is already contemplating a trip to Seoul in the summer of 1988 for the Olympics.

“I expect Danny to eventually run as well as he wants,” Ausbon said. “He’s the caliber of athlete who can run in the ’88 Olympics. If he trains himself, and disciplines himself, he’s definitely a candidate. I already told him I’d come and watch him run.”

As for Everett?

“Oh definitely,” he said, with a smile. “Once I learn to get a good start, everything will fall into place because I get stronger as I go. The only way I won’t go (to Seoul) is if I’m dead and in my grave. If things keep going the way they are, I’ll be running and hopefully winning the 400, and Henry will be there, too.

“But first I’ve got state. I’m shooting for a 45 cause it’s a big meet. It’s what I call getting aggressive. That’s when the 400 is fun because you build that natural rhythm all the way around the track.”