The first day of racing at the NORBA NCS season opener in Big Bear Lake, California wrapped up with wins from one very familiar name, and one that’s just starting to make its way round the pits.

The name everyone knows was longtime pro Eric Carter, who used a great start to out duel Brian Lopes in the men’s mountain cross final. The new name was young Jill Kintner, who parlayed her No. 1 qualifying position into the first NORBA win of her short mountain biking career.

Carter came in as just the No. 3 qualifier, but said he anticipated the gate drop perfectly in the final.

“I started moving early and just hoped the guy dropped it early,” explained Carter. “If he hadn’t I would have been stuck going nowhere.”

Kintner tops the women's podium.

Behind Carter, Lopes saw any chances of catching the Hyundai-Mongoose rider evaporate when BMX-convert Neal Wood took him down in the second turn. It was all Lopes (Hyundai-GT) could do to get back on his bike and battle back to grab the second spot. The surprising Chris Powell took third, with Wood coming across a distant fourth.

“He clobbered me,” said Lopes of Wood’s aggressive move early in the final. “I don’t think he even tried to turn. He just hit me hard.”

The women’s final was a runaway, with Kintner holding the lead from start to finish. Katrina Miller (Jamis), Tara Llanes (Giant-Pearl Izumi) and Tracey Moseley (Kona-Clarks) rounded out the top four.

Kintner, 21, has won almost every title there is to win in BMX, but says she really wants to make the transition to racing mountain bikes full time.

“There’s just not a lot of opportunities for women in BMX,” Kintner said. “To race mountain bikes is the natural progression.”

Kintner’s first foray into mountain-bike racing came last year, but she met with just limited success, a second at Snowshoe her only top-4 result. Now she’s planning on hitting all the NORBAs and World Cups, meaning she’s off to Scotland later in the month.

Racing in Big Bear Lake concludes Sunday with the short track and downhill races. The short track goes off first, with the women at 12:30 p.m., then the men at 1. Downhill follows with the women at 2:15 and the men at 2:45. Check back to VeloNews.com for full reports, results and photos.