Jeffrey May Jr. knew Priscilla Crawley stood between him and a winning run Thursday night.

After marking 218.5 on A Lil Per Acre in the Area 18 Youth Scholarship competition, May, of Statesboro, Ga., was the leader seven horses into the 12-horse event. With five sets of cutters and horses left, May was worried about the defending champion.

"I couldn't even watch her run," May said. "But I decided to watch her. She made me nervous. I was on pins and needles those last five horses."

He had nothing to worry about. The 17-year-old Southeast Bulloch High School senior won the unofficial event of the 24th annual Augusta Futurity at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center. With the victory, May earned a $3,000 scholarship he's hoping to use to pursue a law degree at the University of Georgia.

"I haven't been accepted yet," he said. "But I hope to find out pretty soon.

On Smart Little Maverick, Adam Koontz, of Belton, S.C., posted 217.5 to place second for a $2,000 scholarship. Crawley, of Unadilla, Ga., and Smart Spurs rode next to last in the event, but still marked 217 and won a $1,500 scholarship.

"I was really shooting for first," Koontz said. "I thought I had one of the best horses in it. I just didn't get the luck of the cows. But Jeffrey did good."

May, who said he hasalmost accumulated $13,000 in scholarship money over the past three years due to cutting, has been showing cutting horses for eight years and competing in this event for four years. His best finish was a second in 2001. Last year, he placed seventh.

"I just hoped in my fourth year here I was going to win it," May said. "I was really striving for that."

May cut three cows and held together a potentially troublesome run.

"I thought it was a great run," May said. "My second cow I was getting a little in trouble with it trying to get back into the herd. But (A Lil Per Acre) recovered some. Overall, it was a good run."

May said he felt like his 13-year-old mare, who has won more than $30,000, was going to do something special when the two arrived at the civic center 4 p.m. Thursday.

"She was perfect," he said. "I think I rode her down and had enough preparation time to get her just perfect. I knew when I was warming her up, she was going to do just what she did tonight. I could feel it."

RESULTS

Area 18 Youth Scholarship Cutting

218.5-Jeffery May, A Lil Per Acre, $3,000. 217.5-Adam Koontz, Smart Little Maverick, $2,000. 217-Priscilla Crawley, Smart Spurs, $1,500. 216-Drew Hestad, Docs Sugar Ant, $1,000. 215.5-Nicholas Johnson, Jae Bar Jewel, $500. 213-Kristen Mooney, Haidas Little Jewel. 212-Brittany Woodlief, Danas Little Pep. 199-Ashley Nix, Haidas Hollywood Pep. 197-Morgan Jones, Swing Toy. 192-Mary Ellen Graves, Haidas Scout. 183-Matthew Blewitt, Highbrow Ginger. 181-Justin Sasser, Calgary Bar.