Joe Waskom takes the win in Lappeenranta Motonet Grand Prix men's 1500 Wednesday...
In Lappeenranta, Finland, about 145 miles northeast of Helsinki, Joe Waskom (Paul Merca photo) won the men's 1500 meters at the Lappeenranta Motonet Grand Prix meet on a wet Wednesday evening.
Waskom tucked behind pace setter Ben Claridge of Great Britain, who went through in a modest 59.52 for 400 meters, and 1:59.52 through 800.
After Claridge stepped off the track, Portugal's Miguel Moreira took over at the front, taking the field through 1200 meters in 2:57.85.
Finland's Joonas Rinne tried to make a break for it, but Waskom caught him by swinging to the outside off the final turn, winning the race in a modest 3:38.99, with Rinne second in 3:39.16, and Moreira third in 3:40.21.
Minutes beforehand, Washington's Chloe Foerster set a personal best in the women's 800, finishing second to Australia's Sarah Billings.
UW teammate Samantha Friborg, who agreed to pace the race, took the field through the 400 in 57.63 before stepping off the track past the 500 mark.
Billings ran away from the field, though Foerster made a late charge from fourth place, running out of real estate in the end.
Billings ran 2:00.30 to Foerster's 2:01.88.
The mark for Foerster is the third fastest in UW school history, behind Carley Thomas' 1:59.95, set in Lignano, Italy last year, and Sophie O'Sullivan's 2:00.28 set on Sunday, also in Lignano.
NOTE: The Lappeenranta Motonet GP, and European Athletics contributed to this report.
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