While the first of two Big Five meets on Saturday was by no means perfect, mistakes were no match for Nebraska. The Cornhuskers won the meet -- which was hosted at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois -- with a team score of 196.650 to earn a share of the regular-season Big Ten title and advance to the evening session of the Big Ten Championships in New Brunswick, New Jersey, next weekend.

Meet host Illinois (196.450) and Ohio State (195.350) finished second and third, respectively, to also collect spots in the Big Ten evening session. Fourth-place Michigan State (194.650) and fifth-place Maryland (193.375) will compete in the afternoon session. Michigan won Saturday's other Big Five meet -- which was held in Iowa City, Iowa -- to tie Nebraska for the regular-season title.

Nebraska

The meet's top finishers began on a bye and did not compete until the second rotation. The Huskers fared well on floor and only counted scores in the 9.800 to 9.900 range. Jennie Laeng and Ashley Lambert rocked the end of Nebraska's rotation with scores of 9.900 while Danielle Breen did the same near the start.

Moving on to the next power event, the Huskers demonstrated their consistency on vault by only counting scores of 9.825 and 9.850.

But uneven bars is where Nebraska shined. Half of the Huskers' scores were in the 9.900 range while the other half were in the 9.800 range. Abbie Epperson and Megan Schweihofer both earned a 9.925.

Despite the energy and momentum of bars, Nebraska had a few early struggles on beam, including two consecutive falls. Grace Williams helped the Huskers shake off those miscues with a career-high-tying 9.95, which was also Nebraska's highest beam score of the year, to win the event title and clinch the meet.

Illinois

The Fighting Illini began the meet with a solid start on beam, head coach Kim Landrus' signature event.

All of the Illini's counting scores were in the 9.800 range, with leadoff Bridget Hodan pacing Illinois with a 9.875. The second rotation was a bye for the Illini, but it served them well. In the third rotation, Illinois set a season high on floor with a 49.450, with no routine scoring below a 9.800. Sophomore Lizzy LeDuc anchored the Illini with a bang, performing a near-perfect routine for a 9.925, which was good for the event title.

The Illini have no 10.0 vaults, so scores are automatically lower for them in the event, but they fared well with decent Yurchenko fulls. Redshirt junior Mary Jane Horth vaulted a nice Yurchenko full to lead the Illini with a 9.825.

Ending the meet on uneven bars, the Illini were solid once again, with Horth tallying a 9.950 on her favorite event to win the title. LeDuc did fall after her switch kip, but Illinois did not have to count her score.

While Illini only had two events score 49.0 or above, the team's 196.450 total was its third highest this season, and several gymnasts set season or career highs.

Ohio State

Mistakes were prevalent throughout the Big Five meet, and the Buckeyes started off with a pair of them on floor. Fortunately for Ohio State, it was able to rebound from the two low scores and finish with its final four routines all in the 9.800 range, including Alexis Mattern's 9.850 to anchor the rotation.

Vault was the best event for the Buckeyes, who had four solid routines in the 9.800 range to crack 49.0 for the only time in the meet. The third rotation was going well for OSU to start, but it encountered a few hiccups at the end with two low scores. The Buckeyes were not deterred by it, though, and still managed a solid 48.875 total.

Ending the meet on beam was nothing new to Ohio State, but it couldn't find a rhythm with three routines in the 9.500 to 9.600 range scattered throughout its final rotation.

Michigan State

The Spartans had the advantage of competing in Olympic order. Only five of their gymnasts competed on vault, with the highest score coming from Nicola Deans, who earned a 9.800. The remaining scores were in the 9.700 range.

Every team had some mistakes, and Michigan State's first came on bars. The first half of the rotation went relatively well for the Spartans with three scores in the 9.700 range. Deans then suffered a fall during her routine, which included a medical check after falling on her dismount, and did not compete for the rest of the meet. Lindsey Lemke hit her routine after Deans' scary fall, but Hailee Westney was not able to finish strong for the Spartans.

The fourth rotation was similar to the third for Michigan State, as it also had two falls on the event. But Westney was able to highlight the Spartans' rotation with a 9.900.

After four rough rotations, Michigan State recomposed and finished strong on floor. All six floor routines were hit, with the highest coming from Kira Frederick and Elena Lagoski at the end of the rotation.

Maryland

Despite a fall, the Terrapins opened the meet on bars with their best score of the night. Maryland finished with no counting score below a 9.700, highlighted by Sarah Faller's 9.825.

Maryland struggled on beam, beginning with a low score from Kristen Prterman and followed two more low scores followed. While Shynelle Agaran competed a hit routine for a 9.775, the Terps finished with their lowest event total of the meet. 

Maryland then had time to regroup as the third rotation was a bye. Although it still wasn't six for six on routines, the fourth rotation was much better for the Terps. Maryland's first routines included some mistakes, but Leah Slobodin got the team back on track with a solid 9.825 routine. The Terps had one more fall after that, but the final two routines picked up where Slobodin left off, with both scoring in the 9.800 range to finish the rotation strong.

Closing on vault, Maryland's scores weren't the highest on the event, but there were no significant mistakes. Most of the Terps' vaults scored in the 9.700 range for a solid finish.

Related:
2017 Big Five at Illinois Results
Top Talent To Watch At The Illinois Big Five Meet
Top Gymnasts To Watch At Iowa Big Five Meet