SEATTLE – All that pasta fueled a pair of record runs for Husky All-Americans Joe Waskom and Carley Thomas today at a World Continental Tour meet in Lignano, Italy. Thomas broke the 2-minute barrier for the first time in the 800-meters, and Waskom came up just short of the World Championships standard that he’s chasing in the 1,500-meters, but still he got the victory and a PR.
Waskom put himself in position to earn a Team USA spot for the World Championships with his second-place finish at the USATF Outdoor Championships last week in Eugene, but the way to insure that spot is to hit the Worlds standard of 3:34.20. Coming into today, Waskom’s season-best was 3:35.32 which he ran in the USATF final.
The field in Italy was larger than a typical invite and the first couple laps saw a lot of jockeying and Waskom was out in lane three for most of the first lap. He also fought through contact and a stumble on the third lap. Going into the final lap, Waskom was in seventh, but he turned on the jets and quickly moved past everyone into first place, holding off the field down the homestretch to cross in 3:34.64.
While not quite the standard, the time will improve Waskom’s World Ranking which is another potential path to a World Championships bid.
Former Husky Kieran Lumb was also in the field, he finished 14th overall in 3:38.22, racing for On Athletics.
Thomas also kicked to victory over the final 100-meters of her 800-meter race today. She leaned across the line in 1:59.95. That’s the first career-best time for Thomas since before she came to UW. Her old career-best was 2:01.01 from the 2019 London Diamond League meet.
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