He’s Going Places--Fast : With blistering speed and excellent hands, receiver Jim McElroy is a vital spark plug for Washington High.

When Jim McElroy IV was in junior high, he attended football practices with stepbrother Kuwantu Cammon, who played for Washington High. After practice, McElroy would race some of Cammon’s teammates.

“He would bet them a dollar or whatever they had in their pockets. They were three or four years older than me. But I used to waste them,” McElroy said.

Four years later, McElroy is still racing football players--and most of the time it is still no contest.

“He’s very fast, extremely quick,” said Dick Lascola of the Scouting Evaluation Assn. of Fallbrook, Calif. “He’s not a big kid. But people want speed, and he’s obviously got it. If he gets his hands (on the ball) in the open field he obviously can motor.”

McElroy is one of the area’s leading receivers and has drawn the attention of college recruiters nationwide. College football evaluators say the 5-foot-10, 155-pound senior is one of the state’s best prospects at receiver and defensive back. And he is expected to be one of the top sprinters next spring after finishing fifth in the 100 meters at the City finals last spring.

“I always want to be the one who scores the touchdowns and makes the end zone celebrations,” McElroy said. “I don’t like making tackles.”

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McElroy was among the highest scorers at a National Football League-type combine camp conducted by Lascola for high school seniors in March. On a wet track at Downey’s Warren High, McElroy ran the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, just 0.04 seconds behind the winner.

Washington has had a long tradition of famous receivers, most notably James Lofton, who holds the NFL record for receiving yardage. And Washington Coach Edmund Johnson said McElroy ranks among the top three receivers he has coached over the past nine years: “He is the ultimate competitor. Even when he is on empty, he will run hard. He is the same way in the classroom.

“I hope my sons grow up to be like him. He’s a very well-rounded person.”

McElroy scored at least one touchdown in six of Washington’s first eight games. His best performance came in the season opener against cross-town rival Locke, in which he scored three touchdowns: returning the second-half opening kickoff for 85 yards to give Washington a 12-0 lead, returning a 77-yard kickoff return and then catching a 20-yard pass.

“That game was for bragging rights to the neighborhood,” McElroy said of the 30-14 victory. “Of all the games we have played, I wanted to do well in that one.”

And the next seven were one McElroy star performance after another:

* In Week 2, Chris Johnson hit McElroy in full stride up the sideline on a 65-yard streak for Washington’s only touchdown in a 17-14 loss to Roosevelt.

* In Week 4, McElroy returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, but Carson beat Washington, 34-8.

* In Week 6, McElroy picked up a fumble by Banning tailback Sean Turner and pitched it to linebacker Doniel Webster, who ran untouched for a 17-yard touchdown. Washington won, 7-6.

“He’s the kind of spark plug a team needs to win,” Johnson said. “He doesn’t do a lot of talking. But when he does do something on the field--like make a great hit on defense--players watch and learn.”

McElroy, who has caught 14 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns, does not rank among the area’s top 10 receivers, mostly because the Generals have trouble getting him the ball. Washington used two other quarterbacks before Amar Brisco won the job.

“None of our quarterbacks have experience,” Johnson said. “Jim stays open, but our quarterbacks have trouble getting their passes off. They either get sacked because they hold onto the ball too long, or they run.”

Monday was the first day college football coaches could watch recruits at practice or in a game. But they could contact recruits by telephone. Among the schools courting McElroy are California, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada Reno, UCLA and Washington. He has a 3.0 grade-point average and scored a 820 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test to qualify under NCAA eligibility requirements.

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McElroy said he was speechless when he received a call from Colorado Coach Bill McCartney: “I was really excited when McCartney called. (Washington linebacker) Gregory Gales and I have talked about playing for Colorado since the second grade.”

Although Colorado may be his dream school, McElroy, who is also considering UCLA, wants to remain close to his South-Central home. “I would rather play at a school where my father will be watching in the stands,” McElroy said.

Although his father, grandfather and great-grandfather played high school football, Jim McElroy IV said he would not have played for the Generals if it weren’t for his stepbrother.

“Whatever he did, I wanted to do.”