GREENVILLE, S.C. (September 11, 2010) - Austin Meier is hoping the third time is a charm.
The 23-year-old reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in the world standings for the third time in 2010, with a third-place finish at the Greenville (S.C.) Invitational on Saturday. The effort was enough to move him ahead of Renato Nunes by 333.5 points.
Meier was one of four riders to finish the weekend 3-for-3, and it was his 89.5-point effort in the short round on Bad Moon that gave him enough to overtake Nunes.
“Hopefully, it holds that way,” Meier said. “I’m definitely going to try and keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
And that means hunting — literally and figuratively.
Hunting season is about to open, and Meier intends to relax between events by spending as much time in the woods as possible, while “acting like a number two-” ranked bull rider on the weekends in effort to “keep hunting all the way through the finals.”
This weekend, he rode RH for 86.5 points in the opening round, and then made it look easy on RMEF Elk Camp for 85.25 points, earning the third pick in the bull draft for the short round. He took Bad Moon en route to a third-place finish. Meier has now posted four consecutive Top 5 finishes on the Built Ford Tough Series, including his fifth event win of the season in Ontario, Calif., a week ago.
“Just because I’m in number one right now, there’s still a lot of work to be done,” said Meier, who is focused on maintaining his newfound intensity. “I can’t slack off and get comfortable because of where I’m at.”
Meier, whose season average is just over 61-percent, recognizes the importance of maintaining that consistency in the remaining four BFTS events, and throughout the upcoming PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.
There have now been 10 lead changes this season, among six different riders – five of whom are now the Top 5 riders in the world standings – however, Meier hasn’t held the lead for more than three events.
“Your number-one spot may only last a week if you’re not doing your job and staying focused,” said Meier, who was upset with himself for coming up short in the first Final Five Showdown on Friday.
Meier drew Space Chimp, and managed to stay on just 3 seconds. He could only regroup for Saturday’s two rounds after watching Nunes come down off Very Smart Remedy.
“I probably could have got there last night had I got my bull rode — and that was kind of aggravating to me,” Meier said.
Meier’s best career year since finishing 19th his rookie year was a year ago when he finished sixth in the world.
