I suspect the reason you never played APA is because you put credence in stuff like this.
Any operator who is any good will listen to your story and make an honest decision. If you have a Championship Lowest Attainable (mentioned by others here as being "locked in" after a trip to nationals), that can be seen in the app and the operator can only appeal that to the national office (all mentioned in the team manual, not a secret, anyone who qualifies that with "I've heard" simply has no interest in reading the team manual). The LO may not have the power to effect a change themselves, but at least they can suggest a change. My suggestion is to have a conversation with your LO, be honest, and don't expect a complete answer right away. Details of the handicapping system are regarded as a trade secret and divulging those details, even to a completely honest person who has no intention of wrongdoing, is a breach of the LO's contract and can cause them to lose their franchise. So if it seems like the LO is trying to talk around some things, they probably are just trying not to give away those trade secrets. It's natural to mistrust LO's who are required to keep certain things secret, but all the LO's I know are honest people trying to be as fair as they can within the limits of their contracts. I will warn you though, any attempt at gaming the system may (hopefully will, but some people are very good at being dishonest) eventually be discovered, at which point all bets regarding help from the LO are off.