ATIZAPAN DE ZARAGOZA, Mexico - Menlo College senior tight end Lance Walkup is in Mexico this week preparing to represent Team Stars & Stripes when it faces the Tec Monterrey All Stars in the 2009 Tazon de Estrellas (Bowl of the Stars). Walkup, a First Team All-Northwest Conference selection, is one of 52 players on the American team, which consists entirely of NCAA Div. III student-athletes.

The game will take place on Saturday on the Tec de Monterrey campus' Estado de Mexico. Team Stars & Stripes arrived in Mexico last Sunday and has practiced all week at the Tec Monterrey facility in Atizapan de Zaragoza. The student-athletes will visit the Aztec Pyramids and the country's capital in Mexico City between workouts.

Team Stars & Stripes features some of the most accomplished NCAA Div. III football players representing 35 colleges from 20 states across the country. The Tec Monterrey All Stars feature the top players from the Tec Monterrey university system, Mexico's premier university system with campuses across the country. Tec Monterrey teams have won eight of the past 10 Liga Major football national championships.

Walkup finished third on the Oaks in receptions with 21 for 235 yards, which was also the third best total on the team. The six-foot-three-inch, 215-pound senior transfer averaged 11.2 yards per catch with a long of 29 yards and a touchdown. He is one of three tight ends on the Team Stars & Stripes roster which features fellow Northwest Conference standouts Scott Hirschberger (OL) and Cory Lowe (DE), both of conference runner-up Willamette. Walkup will wear No. 80 during the game.

A live video webcast of the game will be available for the 10 a.m. kickoff at GlobalFootball.com for $5. The Spanish-language broadcast will also be available for on-demand viewing once the game is completed.