The race's documentation states the following:
"This meet is intended to provide athletes an additional opportunity to achieve qualifying performances for
the NCAA Division I Championships, the Olympic Trials, the Olympc Games and other international competitions.
We will attempt to accommodate all athletes who can achieve either the USA National Championship standards or the
NCAA Division I automatic standard while maintaining reasonable field sizes."
Did it ever occur to you that their intentions were to somewhat balance out the heats to create an optimum situation for those with the ability to achieve these standards? Or would you rather be in the middle of a massive cluster-f*** in the first heat or with comparable competition and space to run in the 2nd heat?