From a quick review of the skayers, it looks like the top 6 National Qualifying Series (NQS) scorers from each Section were invited. Those are the same skaters that will receive a bye through Regionals.I can't say for sure this year but when I looked into it 2 years ago maybe, the skaters just sign up. But it's not open to everyone, it is like skaters who were at nationals/ISP get to sign up first, then they'll open it to sectional skaters, and so on... so basically it is supposed to be a competition for highly competitive skaters. It seemed that there wasn't this many skaters in the past, I feel like they used to cap it at 12? Could be wrong on that though. Makes more sense to let more skaters in though, good competitve experience with other high quality skaters.