India's Vikas Gowda won the gold medal in discus throw in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) meet in Sacramento, California.
The Karnataka athlete, a Frederick High School graduate and University of North Carolina senior, became the second Indian to win the prestigious American Inter-Varsity title after triple jumper Mohinder Singh Gill won two back-to-back titles in 1970 and 1971.
Gowda won the competition registering 60.55m on his second attempt ahead of Arizona's Adam Kuehl who managed 59.64m in his first throw.
The Mysore-born thrower had topped the preliminary round with 59.76 metres, just ahead of Kuehl (59.15). He had a series of 58.83, 60.55, 59.59, foul, 58.91 and foul in the final round.
Last year, he had to settle for the silver medal with a throw of 60.07m.
Gowda is the current national record holder in the event with a distance of 64.69m.
Son of former national coach Shive Gowda, Vikas first represented India in the World junior championships in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2002. He later competed in the Athens Olympics (14th overall with 61.39m) and the Helsinki World championships (14th overall with 62.04m).
He won the discus silver medal (62.84m) at the Asian Championships in Incheon, Korea, last year, but finished sixth (60.08m) at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games where he managed fifth place in shot put with a throw of 18.46m.
