It was hard to contain the enthusiasm of the Enumclaw High boys swim team Friday night at the Class 3A state meet.

Led by the ninth- and 10th-place individual finishes of senior Greg Rufener and the 14th-place finishes of its two relay teams, the Hornets closed out the 2007-08 campaign with a spot inside the Top 20.

Rufener earned his ninth-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a final time of 22.11 seconds, besting his Friday preliminary time of 22.44. It was hard for anyone to touch Eastside Catholic’s Ethan Hallowell who won the sprint in 20.58.

Rufener raced to his 10th-place finish in the 100 freestyle, where he posted a 49.18. Hallowell also set the top time in the event with a 45.26.

Rufener also swam legs of both the Hornets’ 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay. Seniors Josh Petersen and Pierce Beigh and junior Shane Jackson round out the two teams.

It was hard to contain the relay team’s enthusiasm Friday night on the deck at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way as the Hornets’ medley relay sprinted to a season-best 1:47.77 and later finished 14th with a 1:49.97.

Saturday night, the race was won by Mercer Island, which posted a state record 1:35.68 in the preliminaries and bested it with a 1:34.25 in the finals.

Jackson, Rufener, Beigh and Petersen carried home their 14th-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay with a 1:34.34. Mercer Island won it with a 1:27.71.

Beigh was the Hornets’ other individual participant. He finished 21st in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.61.

The Hornets finished 19th overall. Mercer Island won the title with Mount Rainier second. South Puget Sound League 3A member Peninsula finished fifth and Lakes was 10th.

Sumner

Sumner High senior Alex Ekstrom raced to two 23rd-place finishes at the Class 3A state swim meet. The Spartan raced to a 2:10.68 time in the 200 individual medley and a 1:06.43 in the 100 breaststroke.

The Spartans also brought their 400 freestyle relay with Zach Morrison, Zane Gustafsom, Connor Powers and Ekstrom. The foursome finished 22nd with a time of 3:41.19.

Bonney Lake

Bonney Lake’s Jordan Crockett, a senior, finished 23rd in the 100 backstroke with a 1:02.19.