DALLAS, Texas - The University of Houston golf team fired a second-round score of nine-under par 279 to move into a tie for fifth place after 36 holes of action Monday at the Red River Classic Tournament in Dallas, Texas. The Cougars are eight shots off the lead of USC (563, 13-under par) and tied with Kent and tournament host Oklahoma heading into the final 18 holes to be held on Tuesday at the Dallas Athletic Club.

After beginning the morning round with a team score of four-over par 292, three Houston players shot in the 60's to pace the Cougars to a nine-under 279 later in the afternoon. UH was led in the charge by All-America candidate Andy Sanders, who fired a five-under par 67 in the second round to improve on the three-under 69 he recorded earlier in the day. The senior from Merritt Island, Florida, is now only two strokes off the individual lead held by Arkansas' Craig Lile (134, -10) in the 84-player field. Houston junior Wade Ormsby and redshirt freshman Kevin Hermis shot identical scores of 69 to help UH move from eleventh to fifth in the 15-team field.

Tuesday's final round will be feature a live, hole-by-hole score report on the internet. Log on to the Houston web site at UHCougars.com and follow the links to the Taylor Made/Red River Classic.

FIRST DAY TEAM RESULTS (Two Rounds)
2000 Red River Classic; Dallas Athletic Club; Dallas, TX

PL Team                     Scores
 1 USC                      292-271--563     -13
 2 Texas                    283-281--564     -12
 3 TCU                      284-281--565     -11
 4 SMU                      288-281--569     - 7
 5 Houston                  293-278--571     - 5
   Kent                     290-281--571     - 5
   Oklahoma                 292-279--571     - 5
 8 Washington               287-285--572     - 4
 9 Duke                     293-279--572     - 4
10 Oklahoma State           291-284--575     - 1
11 BYU                      290-287--577     + 1
   Texas A&M                297-280--577     + 1
13 Ohio State               287-291--578     + 2
   LSU                      288-290--578     + 2
15 Arkansas                 290-292--582     + 6

Individual Leader & Houston Scores
     PL Players                   Scores
   1 Craig Lile, Arkansas         66-68--134   -10
   2 Andy Sanders, UH             69-67--136   - 8
t 19 Wade Ormsby, UH              73-69--142   - 2
t 49 Brad McIntosh, UH            72-74--146   + 2
t 55 Kevin Hermis, UH             78-69--147   + 3
t 78 Scott Dawley, UH (Ind.)      78-76--154   +10
  83 Scott Ferguson, UH           83-77--160   +16