The Madison High School robotics team finished first at a recent area competition, and in the process, qualified for the state championship.

Madison, along with the Livingston High School robotics team and the Landroid robotics team, combined to win the New Jersey first Robotics FTC Qualifying Tournament held Dec. 18 in Livingston.

More than 25 teams from around the state competed in the tournament. Madison has now qualified for the state championship tournament to be held in February at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The winning team from the state tournament receives an invitation to participate in the World Championships to be held next year in St. Louis.

The Madison team is led by adviser Matthew Blackman. Team members are Kevin Choi, Nick Santoro, Christian Santoro, Tobias Richfield, Kim Marotta, Joseph Kennedy, Vijay Prabakaran, Sean Munkel and Jesse Klein.