Five Embry-Riddle athletic teams captured The Sun Conference tournament titles to wrap up the spring semester. They included men's and women's track, women's golf, men's tennis, and baseball.

The women's track and field team claimed its first ever conference title totaling 235.5 points. They were led by Flo Silva, who earned 25 points en route to becoming the women's track athlete of the year at the 2009 Sun Conference Championship.

Silva finished the weekend with two first place finishes in the 1500m run and the 5000m run, earning 20 points, and a fourth place finish in the 800m, adding five more points to her total.

The men's team captured its third consecutive Sun Conference Championship trophy, totaling 330 points, while Adam Szablowski was recognized as the 2009 Male Field Athlete of the Year. Szablowski earned points in four different events, including a gold medal in the javelin and two bronze medals in the shot put and hammer throw.

In addition to the student-athlete's success, Head Coach Mike Rosolino was recognized as the 2009 Track and Field Head Coach of the Year for both the women and men's teams. Read more.

Read article featured in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Michele Berg has been appointed as the executive director of Alumni Relations for Embry-Riddle. During the last five years working as part of the Alumni Relations office, she has served as director of Alumni Relations for the Worldwide Campus, represented the university overseas, created the Alumni-Student Connection Program, and worked with Parent Relations. Michele has served as executive director on an interim basis since March.

"We are very pleased to welcome Michele to this new opportunity to lead our alumni efforts," said Dan Montplaisir, vice president of Institutional Advancement. "I encourage your continued support of our Alumni Association and its plans to promote and involve alumni in the expansion of our brand as the world's leader in the science and business of aviation and aerospace." Read more.

There's a new way to connect and communicate with Embry-Riddle alumni. Groups have arrived on the eaglesNEST!

Create your own groups, join existing groups, and invite your friends to join in the fun. It's quick and easy to share video, photos, links, comments, event invitations, and RSVPs with each other, and it's simple to receive updates on everyone in your group. Real-time chat lets you connect with group members even faster, and the White Board lets you post your thoughts instantly.

To get started, login to www.ERAUalumni.org and you'll see your MY GROUPS and SUGGESTED GROUPS on the home page. Or, click directly on Chapters & Groups.

The Embry-Riddle - Worldwide Campus has opened two new locations in Iraq at Camp Victory and at Balad Airbase. Camp Victory, which is the primary component of the Victory Base Complex, occupies the area surrounding the Baghdad International Airport. Balad Airbase, which is the central logistical hub for forces in Iraq and serves approximately 15,000 service-members, is the busiest air base operated by the United States Department of Defense and is overall currently the second busiest airport in the world - second only to London's Heathrow Airport.

"The International Region is pleased to represent the university in our continuing efforts to provide aviation related educational opportunities to our service-members wherever they are found defending our freedom." said Donna Roberts, international regional dean for the Worldwide Campus. Read more.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University today announced that Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam Srl. and Michael and Lynne Birmingham, U.S. distributors for the Tecnam line of aircraft, have donated a brand new 2009 Tecnam P-92 Echo Classic, a light sport aircraft (S-LSA) valued at $125,000, to Embry-Riddle's nationally ranked Daytona Beach flight team.

Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach flight team will be the first in the nation to fly the new plane in the upcoming National Intercollegiate Flying Association's SAFECON 2009 competition May 17-29 at Parks College of St. Louis University. Read more.

eaglesNEST members can now connect to Facebook

Spend a lot of time online? The alumni eaglesNEST now supports Facebook Connect, making it even easier to share what's happening with your friends on Facebook.

Once you've made a connection, you can use your Facebook username and password to login to the eaglesNEST. And when you register for an event or post a class note, you can easily choose to have it posted to your Facebook news feed to put you and your alma mater in the center of the conversation.

Simply put, now you can:

• Easily publish news on Facebook
• Use your Facebook login to log into the eaglesNEST

Return to the eaglesNEST today at www.ERAUalumni.org and find out how easy it is to stay connected!