HOLLAND - Saline High School swimming coach Todd Brunty is becoming quite accustomed with a street clothes-swim in the Holland Aquatic Center pool, where the Division 1 state meet is held.

Just as he did after leading Saline to its first girls state swim title in the fall, Brunty plunged into the Aquatic Center pool Saturday for a celebratory swim with his boys team, who had just captured their first state championship.

The Hornets racked up 325 points, leaving a 70.5-point gap between them and the runner-up finisher Pioneer (254.5), which had won five of the last eight - 18 overall - state titles heading into the weekend.

"We're really happy. It's exciting," said Saline coach Todd Brunty, who was named the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (MISCA) Coach of the Year. "The boys talked all year how determined they were to get here. They just came out yesterday to set themselves up for the joy and to have a lot of fun today."

"I'm very proud of them."

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Pioneer coach Denny Hill echoed Brunty's sentiments about his own squad.

"We swam really well. We had a great meet," Hill said. "We're disappointed that we didn't win, but the kids swam well and that's all you can ask."

Even the Pioneer swimmers had to commend Saline for its state showing, all-the-while taking solace in their second-place finish.

"I got to hand it to Saline, they are a great group of swimmers," said Pioneer senior Grant Cole. "They all swam out of their minds this weekend. And we did well, too. I'm happy with our finish. We had a great year."

Cole claimed a state individual title in the 50 yard freestyle, touching the wall at 21.21 seconds.

"I've been a 50 swimmer all four years," the senior said. "Finally getting to win it after getting second last year is a great feeling."

It was one of Pioneer's two individual titles; the other coming from Seijj Osawa, who clocked in a 4 minute, 38.24-second finish in the 500 freestyle.

But the bulk of top finishes came from Saline, which boasted at least one top-3 finish in eight of the 11 swimming events.

"I saw a lot of composure," Brunty said of his kids. "There might have been a few young kids out there, but they swam like veterans."

One such swimmer was freshman David Boland, who finished No. 1 in the 200 individual medley (1:53.80) and the 100 butterfly (51.29).

"It feels great. It's been a great season," said Boland, who passed on credit to the upperclassmen. "My teammates have been pushing me. I think the credit goes to the seniors. They deserved to win today. They've been waiting for years for this."

Aiding Saline's production was fellow freshman Adam Whitener, who finished second in the 100 (46.21) and 200 freestyle (1:40.60).

In relay action, the Hornets added a first place in the 200 freestyle, where Jake Engelmeir, Brad Frost, Seth Waits and Adam Whitener orchestrated a 1:26.32 finish.

"We were seeing each other swim faster and motivating each other to swim faster than we thought we ever could," said Englemeir, a senior, who posted third place times in the 200 freestyle (1:41.61) and 100 butterfly (51.79).

"I've been dreaming about this (winning state) for three weeks real hard, and pretty much ever since I've gotten to high school ... Even before that. For six, seven years, I've been dreaming about this moment. To see it finally coming true is something really special. It means a ton to me and it's awesome."

Meanwhile, Huron finished in ninth place overall as a team with 87 points.

"I thought we swam pretty well," said Huron coach Kelton Graham. "We knew we were kind of out of the points, being in the top this year. We just told the guys to swim fast, swim hard and do the best they can. And they did. They performed well under pressure."

The River Rats' outing was highlighted by a fifth place in the meet's final event, the 400 freestyle relay, where Keeley Maher, Michael Everett, Pierce Theisen and Nick Clyde combined for a 3:12.66 finish.

"The last relay ... that's way faster than I thought we were going to end," admitted Graham.

Individually, Huron's top placing came from Jeff Camalo, who took seventh in diving (364.45). Pioneer's Nick Nemetz finished four spots ahead in third (440.75). Taking first was Clarkston's Jordan Zendejas, who set a Division 1 record with a 482.60.

Finishing out the top-five team totals were Northville in third (166.5), followed by Grandville (147) and Zeeland (134).

The aforementioned teams couldn't keep up with the likes of Pioneer and the state champ Saline, which added to its swimming program's already milestone school year.

"This is great for our athletic department at Saline," noted Brunty. "The girls, after the season they had ... it starts to become contagious. Winning is contagious, that's the old saying."

"It's big," added Englemeir. "Saline - going back in the history - doesn't have a whole bunch of state championships in any sport, especially in guys. For us to be one of the first boys state championships at our school, it's a pretty big thing."

Kaleb Roedel is a sports writer for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734)623-2562 and e-mailed at kalebroedel@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kaleb_R.