Santa Rosa’s Jake Arnold finished a disappointing day at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Berlin today in 27th place in the 34-man field.
Arnold, 25, ended with a first-day total of 3,960 points, well short of his personal-best opening-day mark of 4,171.
Ukrainian Oleksiy Kasyanov, who finished seventh at the 2008 Summer Olympics, is in first place with 4,555 points. Americans Trey Hardee (4,511) and Ashton Eaton (4,355) are in third and fifth place, respectively.
Arnold, who finished 13th at Worlds in 2007, opened auspiciously with a personal-best time of 11.01 in the 100 meters, the day’s first event. But his mark of 22 feet, 1 inch in the long jump was about nine inches shy of his personal best. In the shot put, he posted a mark of 45-10, more than three feet off his top mark.
Arnold, who attended Maria Carrillo High, was a two-time NCAA champion at Arizona.