It was done this way in DIII last year too... The fifth (or so) fastest time from the year before should be the AUTO time. The odds that 16 people run faster than the 5th fastest person from the year before are very low, and would allow for a few people to have the comfort of having qualified, and being able to focus on their training...There were a lot of Olympians that came from the NCAA this past year, and it would have been hard for them to run as fast as they did if they had been forced to chase times in January.
