The University of Minnesota men's golf team fired a four-under par team score of 284 on Friday morning to remain in 13th place after the third day of the 2000 NCAA Men's Golf Championships at Grand National Golf Club in Opelika, Ala.

Freshman Ben Meyers of Frankston, Victoria, Australia led the Golden Gophers again on Friday with a three- under par score of 69. Meyers is in a tie for 22nd place individually in the 156-player field with a three-day total of even-par 144. Minnesota has assured themselves of a top 15 finish, which marks the first time in 56 years (1942-1944) that the program has posted three straight top 15 finishes in the nation. The Golden Gophers were sixth in 1942, fourth in 1943, and second in 1944.

Senior Dave Gunderson rebounded from a second-round score of 79 to card a third-round total of two-under par 70. Junior James McLean continued his steady play with an even par 72, with freshman Wilhelm Schauman and senior Martin LeMesurier each bringing in scores of one-over par 73.

Oklahoma State leads the team portion of the event heading into tomorrow's final round with a score of 31- under par. Texas is four strokes behind at 27-under par, with Georgia Tech in third at 24-under par. Charles Howell of Oklahoma State leads the individual portion of the event with a 20-under par total of 196, with David Gossett of Texas three strokes back at 17- under par 199. Howell fired a course-record nine-under par 63 on Friday, tying the mark set on Wednesday by Gossett.

Team Standings (Top 15 made 36-hole cut)

Fin School Scores

1 Oklahoma State U. 281 276 276 833 -31

2 Texas, Univ. of 272 286 279 837 -27

3 Georgia Tech 280 282 278 840 -24

4 Arizona, U. of 286 289 269 844 -20

5 North Carolina, U 288 282 277 847 -17

6 Houston, Univ. of 284 289 276 849 -15

7 UNLV 286 287 277 850 -14

8 Kent State 288 283 280 851 -13

9 Clemson University 291 287 278 856 -8

10 TCU 289 289 281 858 -6

11 Fresno State Univ. 293 285 279 857 -7

12 Northwestern 287 293 279 859 -5

13 Minnesota, Univ. 290 290 284 864 e

14 Auburn University 290 288 288 866 +2

15 Wake Forest Univ. 292 290 292 874 +10

16 Georgia

T17 California, U. of

T17 East Tennessee St

T19 Mississippi St. U.

T19 New Mexico, U. of

21 Kansas, U. of

22 Georgia State Univ.

T23 Oklahoma, U. of

T23 Pepperdine Univ.

T25 Arizona State U.

T25 Virginia, U. of

27 North Florida, U. of

28 Brigham Young Univ.

29 Southern California

30 Washington, U. of

Golden Gopher Scores

Ben Meyers 73 71 69 213

James McLean 73 72 72 217

Martin LeMesurier 73 75 73 221

Dave Gunderson 71 79 70 220

Wilhelm Schauman 81 72 73 226

Individual Top 10

Fin Name School Scores

1 Charles Howell OK State 67 66 63 196 -20

2 David Gossett Texas 63 70 66 199 -17

3 Chris Wisler E Tenn. St 67 68 67 202 -14

T4 Jeremy Anderson UNLV 69 68 69 206 -10

T4 Chris Morris Houston 71 69 66 206 -10

6 Ricky Barnes Arizona 70 68 68 207 -9

T7 J.J. Wall Texas 65 71 72 208 -8

T9 Jess Daley N'western 69 70 69 208 -8

T9 James Driscoll Virginia 68 71 69 208 -8

T9 B. Hyler No. Carolina69 71 68 208 -8