It means they were eligible to compete at these meets (whether or not they actually did would take searching the results). If they placed well, you would think they would announce that instead of just saying they were a qualifier.
YMCA gymnastics holds a Nationals and our girls are qualifiers once they make the qualification score for their level. Not all of the qualifiers choose to compete at the meet. It is the same thing with JO Nationals (but that is more likely due to injury).