BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Ballston Spa High School Science Olympiad team is headed to the New York State competition. This comes after the team placed third at the Capital Region Science Olympiad Tournament.

The local tournament took place at Ballston Spa High School in February. Eighteen teams from across the Capital Region competed. The Ballston Spa team won medals in 19 out of 23 events including first place in five of them. The team is coached by High School science teachers Theresa Rousseau and Jim Poirier.

The Science Olympiad tournament is an academic competition that consists of a series of individual and team events that students prepare for throughout the year. The events feature various sciences including biology, earth science, chemistry, physics, computers and technology.

Niskayuna High School and Columbia High School placed first and second, respectively, also qualifying for states. The state Science Olympiad competition takes place on March 17 and 18 at Le Moyne College, near Syracuse.