Community welcomes home Madera HS robotics team after win at world championship

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- MadTown Robotics 1323 is sporting a new title: World Champions.

Fresh off their victory from the 2019 FIRST championships in Houston, the team was greeted at Fresno Yosemite international airport by dozens of family, friends and city leaders.

Even the Mayor of Madera, Andy Medellin, put his Easter plans on hold to congratulate the team.

"In Madera, we all stick together. We're all there for one another regardless," he said. "Whether it's sports teams or academics our schools in general we come together to help support."

That support system wasn't only celebrating the victory, the team attributes their success to their parents, mentors, Madera Unified, and their sponsors.

"Most of our mentors are alumni so most of our support comes from the Central Valley," said team member Roger Villagomez.

RELATED: Madera High School's robotics team is ranked No. 1 in the world

Each year more than 4,000 teams around the globe are given specific instructions and a timeline to build a robot for competitions.

"It's crazy to see where we started just 4 years ago to now right," Villagomez said.

Over the last four years team drivers, Roger Villagomez and John Akana, have made it to the division finals, gone from ranking 4th to 1st in the world, but this is their first time taking home a world championship victory.

"We were pretty close every year so I'm pretty happy we accomplished what we did," Akana said.

The district is setting up future robotics teams for success. Madera High School has already broken ground on a new robotics facility.