On the sidelines

Men's team places 17th at NCAAs\nThe men's cross country team finished 17th at the NCAA championships, five places higher than its national ranking before the race. \nIn the 10K race, senior Aaron Gillen placed 47th in a time of 31:17.8, while sophomore Chad Andrews took 83rd and sophomore Chris Powers took 138th. Sophomore Nathan Purcell placed 63rd with a career best time of 32:17.7, and freshman Jeff Zeha took 171st. Freshman Bart Phariss placed 205th (32:39.9) for his second best 10K run as junior Kevin Chandler finished seventh in 207th (32:41.3).\nThe Hoosiers finished with a 479 points behind Air Force's 467 points.\nSophomore runner finishes in top 50 at NCAAs\nSophomore Allyson Hammond ran a minute and six seconds faster than her previous time on the 6K NCAA course in Ames, Iowa, placing 48th at the women's NCAA cross country championships with a time of 21:33.9, the second best time of her career.\n"She's a bit disappointed," coach Judy Bogenschutz said. "It's extremely competitive here, and there were girls whom she had beaten at regionals who are now All-Americans because she went out a bit too conservative."\nBaseball team signs 5 recruits\nBaseball coach Bob Morgan announced the signing of five athletes to letters-of-intent for the 2002 season.\nIn addition to signing two high school standouts, Morgan signed three junior college players.\nShortstop Seth Bynum played under IU assistant coach Tony Kestranek at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill. Pitcher Jimmy Keown (Plainfield, Ind.) played at Daytona Beach Community College in Florida and outfielder Kennard Jones (Beltsville, Md.) played at at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Ala.\nInfielder Jay Brant hails from Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis and outfielder Reggie Watson is from LaSalle High School in Cincinnati.