Three Tartans Garner Academic All-America Recognition

(AUSTIN, Texas) – Three Carnegie Mellon University men's swimming and diving athletes have been named to the Academic All-America® men's swimming and diving team as selected by the College Sports Communicators. Sophomore Brayden Morford was selected to the first team while junior Arnav Deshpande and senior Christian Lanuza were named to the third team.

Morford holds a 3.92 grade point average in mechanical engineering. He won the 200-yard IM and 100-yard backstroke and was a winner on a 400-yard medley relay team at the 2025 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. He also finished in the top eight in the 100-yard butterfly and three other relays to earn a total of seven All-America awards for the second straight season.

Morford is a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and helped organize Field Day while also helping to create resources for new student-athletes. He participates in SDC Buggy assisting with the construction of the team's buggy.

Deshpande led off the champion 400-yard medley relay and was part of the third-place 200-yard medley relay and fourth-place 200-yard freestyle relay this year at the NCAA Championships. He is a business administration major with a 3.71 GPA who also has 10 other All-America honors for his career.

Deshpande is a member of Pi Kappa Alpha and serves as the recruitment chair and social chair. He is also a teaching assistant for two classes in the Tepper School of Business where he hosts weekly office hours and leads a team of teaching assistants. The junior is a three-year member of Stock Talks where he participates in monthly meetings to absorb essential equity investment principles and strategies. He has taught swimming lessons and worked as an assistant coach for Tall Grass Lightning Swim Team prior to working as a corporate commercial intern at Caterpillar.

Lanuza holds a 3.58 GPA in statistics and machine learning. Also a member of the champion 400-yard medley relay and 200-yard medley relay, Lanuza placed eighth in the 200-yard breaststroke to earn a third All-America honor at this year's national meet. The senior also swam at the 2024 NCAA Championships and earned two All-America Second Team awards.

Lanuza has served as the secretary, president, and senior advisor for Plaidvocates and has volunteered yearly at the Special Olympics. He has held multiple roles with Pi Kappa Alpha and has been a teaching assistant for two classes this spring. Lanuza has held internships with Conkad Business Group, LLC, Pickwick Capital Partners, and Torsiello Capital Advisors Global Consultants and is a 2025 Andrew Carnegie Society Scholar.

This is the fourth straight year a Tartan was honored with the selection and first time that more than one received the award in the same year. Other Tartan honorees include DJ Lloyd (2024), James Kyle (2023), Justin Britton (2019, 2020, 2022), Alex Hanson (2010, 2011), Chris Pearson (2004, 2005), and John Murray (1999) as the honorees in Carnegie Mellon history.