This past weekend’s Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Grand Final proved a sight to remember for Stanford men’s crew. Not only was there an even, photo-finish between the No. 8 Cardinal and No. 2 Harvard, but the silver-medal tie was the best ever for Stanford’s varsity eight.

While neither the Cardinal nor Crimson (5:34.125) could topple undefeated Washington (5:33.165), the two teams came within just 0.96 seconds of the champion Huskies for the slimmest win of Washington’s season.

And in keeping up with the nation’s top two teams, Stanford surged ahead of the previous IRA champion, No. 3 California (5:40.126), by a full six seconds. It was the Cardinal’s first upset over its cross-Bay rivals since taking the Copley Cup early this season.

Clearly, the Stanford eight surpassed all expectations — outside its own.

“What the guys did doesn’t surprise me,” Stanford head coach Craig Amerkhanian said. “It gratifies me that they were able to rise up and hit their potential.”

Having come so close to defeating both Washington and Harvard in Camden, N.J., senior co-captain Donny Simkin had even hoped for more.

“I was excited, but that was dimmed slightly by the fact we had to share with Harvard,” Simkin said. “I’m also disappointed we weren’t able to top Washington in the end. But nevertheless, second is something to be proud of, especially considering how historic of a finish this is for Stanford.”

The underdogs — comprised of seniors Kevin Baum, Nate Rooks and Simkin; juniors Dave Creighton, Ottavio Siani and Silas Stafford; and sophomores Alex Osborne, Mark Murphy and Ariel Dixon (coxswain) — recorded the Cardinal’s highest IRA finish in history, as well as its strongest race of the year.

Earlier in the season, Stanford lost to Cal by more than three seconds in both the annual Big Row and the Pacific-10 Conference Championships, after defeating the Bears in early April’s San Diego Crew Classic. Washington, on the other hand, had escaped the Cardinal by more than six seconds each at the Windermere Classic and Pac-10s.

“Like in past years, we were quick in the beginning of the season and then had trouble developing our speed, or we maybe even slowed down a bit,” Simkin said. “But we were able to come back, especially after such a devastating loss at the Pac-10s, and find a different kind of speed — one we had waiting inside us — and get that monkey off our back with the IRA.”

Stanford gained the confidence it needed to close out the season with its very first IRA race. Though the Cardinal was the last of three Grand Final qualifiers from its Friday semifinal heat, it was riding the high of nearly topping the Crimson in Thursday’s first-round heat. Stanford finished just 0.227 seconds behind Harvard, and with that knowledge entered Saturday’s final looking to again catch the Crimson.

“Harvard’s a great crew and we knew they’re fast, but we also knew they had beaten us so narrowly on Thursday,” Simkin said. “So, we had some unfinished business going into Saturday. We wanted to win, and hanging with Harvard to make a six-lane race into a dual race would leave us in that last 500 meters to really make a move on everyone else.”

Amerkhanian agreed that keeping up with Harvard was Cardinal’s main strategy and “that if we could be an equal match with them, we’d go far.”

“Who knew that our prophecy would be spot on,” he added.

At the start of Saturday’s race, though, it looked like it wasn’t meant to be. The Crimson had the fastest start among the top three teams on the Cooper River, and around 500 meters, the Cardinal was five seats behind it. As Stanford caught up, Washington pulled ahead, and by halfway through the 2,000-meter race, the Huskies were nearly a full boat’s length in front of the two vying teams.

Simkin said he didn’t notice, though. The Cardinal’s focus was on the Crimson.

“I was only really aware of and focused on Harvard,” he said. “So from there, it was a steady grind, making moves, pulling out some punches and just going after them.”

The motivation worked, and soon Stanford was in contention for the title, with both Harvard and the Huskies.

“We made attack after attack after attack and sustained that push on Harvard, and at the same time we were gaining on Washington,” Amerkhanian said.

All three teams made one final push in the last hundred meters, closing out the season with all the strength they had left. Though it ended in a title for the Huskies and a Harvard/Stanford photo-finish, Amerkhanian and Simkin agreed the Cardinal had pulled out its top speed of all season.

“They made the choice as a group and decided to execute,” Amerkhanian said of his varsity eight. “They were going to suffer like never before and exceed their personal limits and barriers. They dug down deep and showed what they could do after working hard for months, and for many of them, years.”

The IRA results will surely have an impact on the coming years for the Stanford program. Pulling off such a large upset will bring in more recruits and, likely, even greater success as the Cardinal cements its reputation as a top, West Coast rowing program.

This year’s squad — especially its four seniors, including Simkin, who will now compete with the U.S. national team — paved the way for that with such an impressive IRA final.

“This was their final exam,” Amerkhanian said. “And what I’ve realized in my years here is that Stanford student-athletes are good at taking final exams.”