STEVENS PONIT - Senior defensive back Bryan Blum (Baraboo/Baraboo) becomes the ninth UW-Stevens Point football player to participate in the NCAA Division III All-Star Game in Mexico. Blum was selected to the roster of Team Stars & Stripes, which will face the Tec Monterrery All Stars in the 2009 Tazon de Estrellas (Bowl of the Stars) on Saturday, Dec. 19.

Blum had double duties as a defensive back and punt returner in 2009 for the Pointers. Blum was third on the Pointers with 76 tackles and recorded one interception. He finished the season with five passes broken up and six passes deflected on his way to second team All-WIAC honors.

All 50 players for Team Stars & Stripes will practice this week, with the first of three two-a-day practices beginning Monday in preparation for Saturday's game.

Other players from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) include UW-Stout's Marcus ball and Kendall Wade and UW-Eau Claire's Ryan Leis, Kyle Paulson, Cory Sartorelli and Brett Schreiner.

Team Stars & Stripes, comprised of NCAA DIII all-stars, will practice at the Tec Monterrey (CEM) facility in Atizapan de Zaragoza near Mexico City, from December 14 to 18 and will also visit the Aztec Pyramids and the nation's capital before facing their Mexican opponents. Tec Monterrey is the premier private university system in Mexico, with campuses in numerous locations around the country. Tec teams have captured eight of the past ten Liga Major football national championships.

A total of 35 colleges from 20 states are currently represented on the Team Stars & Stripes roster: Adrian College, Alfred University, Augustana College, Bates College, Bethel University, Central College, Cornell College, Delaware Valley College, Dickinson College, Fitchburg State College, Franklin and Marshall, Hanover College, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kean University, LaGrange College, Lebanon Valley College, McDaniel College, Menlo College, North Carolina Wesleyan College, North Central, Ohio Northern University, Salisbury University, St. Lawrence University, Susquehanna University, Thomas More, Trinity University, University of St. Thomas, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, University of Wisconsin - Stout, Ursinus College, Utica College, Washington University-St. Louis, Willamette University.

http://www.facebook.com/TazonDeEstrellas