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TROY, N.Y. - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athletes Grace Tilton, Lydia Frangos and Ivy Muchuma have all qualified for this weekend's NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships being held in Lincoln, Neb. Tilton will run the mile, while Frangos and Muchuma will compete in the weight throw at the national championship competition, which is being hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University.

A senior from Concord, N.H., Tilton is the fourth seed in the 17-person mile field with a time of 4:53.89. She established that time at the Liberty League Championship Meet in mid-February. The former Concord High School runner has competed in eight races this semester, winning five of them, including the mile and the 800 meters (2:17.39) at the league meet, and finishing second in another. Tilton set the school record in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:44.44 at Boston University in early February. She also broke the New York State Collegiate Track Championship mark in the 1000 meters with a time of 2:52.66 on March 1.

This is the first NCAA Indoor Championship Meet for Tilton, who competed in the NCAA Cross Country National Championship Meet, running the 6k course in 22:20. The mile preliminaries are Friday at 1:45pm with the finals on Saturday at 1:40pm.

Frangos, a graduate student from Marion, Mass., is the sixth seed thanks to a record-setting performance last weekend. At the ECAC Championships in Roxbury, Mass., on Saturday, the former Masconomet Regional thrower set the Rensselaer mark with a throw of 17.46 meters. Her longest distance prior to that came just a week before when she hurled the 20 pound weight 16.88 meters at the New York State Meet. Of the eight meets she has competed, Frangos finished first or second in six competitions. She has had throws of at least 16 meters four times.

A senior from Nashua, N.H., Muchuma is seeded ninth with a distance of 17.38 meters, which she had when defeating 40 other competitors during a meet at SUNY Brockport on February 8. It was one of four victories for the former Nashua North standout who threw the weight in six meets. Muchuma had two other throws of at least 17 meters - each in the last two weeks. She reached 17.34 meters at the New York State Meet and 17.18 meters last weekend at the ECAC Championships.

This is the first national indoor meet for both Muchuma and Frangos, who compete in the preliminaries and finals on Friday beginning at 11am. There are 15 other competitors in the field.