After two years of familiar names topping the Latin America Regional Leaderboard, a new man, woman and team will represent the region at the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games.

This year’s regional was held in Santiago, Chile, and preparation for the event in the rapidly growing region was not without obstacles, according to Competition Director Cristobal Mardone.

“It’s not been easy, but we are gonna make it, and you are gonna see how we have fun here in Chile,” he said.

The competition was tighter than ever in 2014. Challenging two-time regional champ Orlando Trejo was Puerto Rican-based Emmanuel Maldonado.

“I trained hard for this, I’ve got my whole family here, I’ve got my dad, my stepmom, everyone supporting me back home—it’s incredible,” Maldonado said.

On the team side, Team BIGG Friends, of Bigg CrossFit Recoleta, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, earned its ticket to the Games after two-time regional champs CrossFit 7 Mile did not compete, as many members took the year off, and one, Wanda Brenton, decided to go individual.

Brenton proved she has what it takes to make it in the individual field: She dominated the competition by taking first in three out of seven events.

“It feels really good. I mean I’ve worked really hard all year, all season,” the 39-year-old said at the end of Day 3. “This is what I wanted. This is what I worked for.”

Video by Jonathan Glancy