What helped the Canyon boys track and field team the most on Thursday?

The second-place finishes. The third-place finishes.

Because of those, Canyon took a big step toward another first-place finish in the Foothill League.

The Cowboys beat Hart 77-59 to open the league schedule at Canyon High School, while the Canyon girls beat the Indians 104-32.

While there are still tough meets coming up for the Cowboys (3-0, 1-0), many tabbed the Hart boys as the biggest threat to Canyon’s bid for a third straight league title.

The two teams split first-place finishes on Thursday, but Canyon’s depth won out.

“A lot of the little points really make the difference,” said Canyon assistant coach Chris Jackson. “I’m very happy to see the kids producing and performing at the level they are at this point.”

Canyon received a big boost from its sprint corps. Drew Wolitarsky won the 100-meter dash in 10.9 seconds and the 200 in 22.3 seconds. He also joined Lyndan Coleman, Brenan Diaz-Barriga and Dominic Pennucci to win the 4x100 in 43.5 seconds, and he helped the 4x400 team of Pennucci, Devin Baldwin and Joel Estrada win in 3:24.1.

In his first action this season, Pennucci also won the 400 in 50.4 seconds, and he picked up a key second-place finish in the 200. Baldwin also finished second in the 400 and third in the 200 to complete a Canyon sweep of the event.

“This team has lots of depth,” Baldwin said. “We’ve got to keep building on it. We took it as a league title meet.”

Hart (1-1, 0-1) won all three distance races, with Austin O’Neil finishing first in the 800 in 1:56 and Sam Peckham doubling in the 1,600 (4:28) and 3,200 (9:54.7). But Canyon’s Zach Wims pulled out an important second-place finish in the 3,200, and Joel Estrada did the same in the 800.

Hart’s Tim White swept the jumps, winning the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 4 inches, the triple jump at 47-1 and the long jump at 22-0 1/2.

Canyon’s Brenden Stach won the 110 hurdles in 14.97 seconds, while Robert Wolfe cleared 13-6 to win the pole vault and Cody Fanion won the discus with a throw of 124-5.

Hart’s other winners included Riley Stauffer in the 300 hurdles (39.7 seconds) and John Perkins (43-5 1/2).

“We knew going in it was going to be tough,” said Hart boys head coach Gio Guzman. “The sprinters realized they’ve got to step it up. We’re looking forward to next week.”

On the girls’ side, Canyon (3-0, 1-0) won all but two events. Taylor Thomas and Tiffini Stone each won three events, with the duo joining Michelle Hogan and Erica Anunwah to win the 4x100 in 49.6 seconds.

Thomas also won the 100 hurdles in 14.7 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 47.2 seconds, while Stone leapt 36-5 1/2 to win the triple jump and 17-3 1/2 to win the long jump.

Anunwah won the 200 in 26.4 seconds, Ahlexhys Hixon won the 400 in 1:04, and the Cowboys also won all three distance races. Kendall Bietsch won the 800 in 2:20.8, Sarah Cipperley won the mile in 5:18 and Madison Hills made her season debut by winning the 3,200 in 11:53.

Mari Kneisel cleared 4-10 to win the high jump, Pilar Dizon went 9 feet to win the pole vault, Janice Walker won the discus with a mark of 105-1 1/2 and Taylor Gaines won the shot put with a toss of 31-6.

“I think this year, we’re a more balanced team,” Jackson said. “This year, we don’t have as many holes.” For the Indians (0-2, 0-1), Presley Lambert won the 100 in 12.2 seconds, and she joined Paige Forbes, Augustina Hansen and Kelsey Steck in winning the 4x400 at 4:06.8.