ADA, Ohio - Before heading to the NCAA Division III track and field championships this week, two-time All-American Noah Gauthier said he wouldn't feel like he accomplished anything in his career unless he won a national title.

The Bates College senior can now feel good about his accomplishments.

Gauthier won the national championship Friday in the 35-pound weight throw, prevailing in a tight duel with Trevor Matuszak of Defiance College in Ohio.

His winning toss of 63 feet, 1¼ inches is the best performance in the country in Division III this season and beat Gauthier's personal best by a little more than 2 feet.

"It's sort of shocking, but this is my fourth time at nationals, and I guess I was just kind of comfortable for once," Gauthier said in a statement released by Bates. "When I was warming up, I felt at home for the first time, and it felt like it would be a good day."

Gauthier took the lead on his second throw with a distance of 60-2¼. He felt that throw made it likely that he would place among the top four or five competitors in the 12-man field.

"At that point, I could have the confidence that I wasn't going to mess things up, so I could relax a little," Gauthier said.

Matuszak answered with a throw of 62-2 to reclaim the lead, but Gauthier came right back with his career best.

"I caught it real well, it felt perfect coming out of my hand, and I had good balance," Gauthier said.

Gauthier is the third Bates male athlete to win the national championship in the weight throw, joining Jamie Sawler in 2002 and Billy McEvila in 1998.

Gautier's title is the first individual national title won by a Bates athlete since 2006 when Keelin Godsey won women's hammer throw title and Will Boe-Wiegaard claimed the men's tennis singles crown.

"It's always fun to represent Bates on the national level," Gauthier said. "Everyone here knows Bates, and I had all these coaches asking about me, asking how (Bates throwing coach Joe) Woodhead was doing. It's good to win this for the coaches. They care as much as I do."