VERMILLION, S.D.—Former USD head cross country coach Rob 'Kip' Kinnunen passed away on Wednesday after a hard-fought battle against cancer.
 
Kinnunen held two stints as South Dakota's head cross country coach, first from 1982-84 and again from 2002-08. His Coyote squads captured four-straight NCC women's titles and had 14 combined NCAA Championship appearances. He guided the women to a ninth-place team finish at the 2007 national meet, the third-best finish in school history. It was the third time since 2003 that USD finished in the top-10 at the national meet.
 
Kinnunen also had success at Augustana College, where he coached 65 NCAA Division II All-Americans and four national champions in middle distance and distance events. He was 1989 NCC Coach of the Year and 1991 NCAA Regional Men's Coach of the Year.

A 1981 graduate of the University of South Dakota, Kinnunen was an All-American cross country runner for the Coyotes in the late 1970s. Originally of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, he was an NCC record holder and won the 10,000 meters in 1980. Kinnunen briefly left the coaching profession in 1984 to train for the U.S. Olympics marathon.