VERMILLION, S.D.—A pair of All-American track and field athletes, an All-American offensive lineman and the Coyotes' all-time digs leader highlight the newest members of the Henry Heider Coyote Sports Hall of Fame.
 
The group includes USD's first Division I national champion Bethany (Buell) Firsick '13, two-time All-American offensive lineman Tom Compton '11, five-time All-American distance runner Ramsey (Kavan) Fitzsimmons '10, two-time NCC Defensive Player of the Year Amber (Kobus) Robinson '10, and former cross country coach Rob Kinnunen who will be honored posthumously. In addition, longtime public address announcer Greg Merrigan will be inducted as a special contributor and special recognition will be given to the 2008 women's track and field team coached by Lucky Huber.
 
This class will be formally inducted in an on-campus ceremony held Sept. 27 ahead of the home Coyote football game against Southern Illinois on Sept. 28. A closer look at each of the inductees follows:
 
Firsick captured the women's pole vault at the 2013 NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with a personal best and then-meet record height of 14-7 ¼ (4.45m). She was the first Coyote to win a national title in USD's Division I era and is the only female national track & field champion in Summit League history. She was also the first USD athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 2011.
 
Firsick was a trailblazer for 'Pole Vault U' under USD vault coach Derek Miles. She was a five-time All-American and five-time conference champion in her own right. She held both USD indoor and outdoor pole vault records at one point in her career along with the Summit League indoor championship meet record. In her footsteps, ten Coyote pole vaulters have accumulated 37 All-America honors.
 
Other awards and accomplishments to her name include the 2013 USTFCCCA Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year, first team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2013, and being named the Summit League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2014. She was also the Summit League Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013.
 
Firsick resides in St. Louis, Missouri, working for Cru, a campus ministry that she first became involved in as a student at USD. Her and her husband, Zach, have three children, Lincoln, Elliana, and Calahan.
 
Compton is a two-time All-American offensive lineman, the 2011 Great West Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year and a two-time first-team all-Great West Conference honoree.
 
Compton was a four-year starter for the Coyotes from 2008-11. He totaled 42 starts on the line, including the program's signature win over Minnesota in 2010. He was selected to play in the 2012 East-West Shrine Bowl Game following his senior season.
 
Compton went on to be drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. He was the first Coyote to be drafted since 1990. He went on to play in 124 NFL games spanning an 11-year NFL career and earning 44 starts.
 
Compton and his wife, Tiffany, reside in Richmond, Virginia, with their two children, Tatum and Theo.
 
Fitzsimmons captured five All-America honors in the Coyotes' final season at the Division II level, highlighted by a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and a runner-up performance in the 5,000 meters outdoors. A transfer from Notre Dame, she helped guide USD through the transition to Division I in three seasons with the Coyotes.
 
Fitzsimmons was the 2008 North Central Conference's Most Valuable Performer at the indoor meet as a sophomore, the Great West Conference's Indoor Athlete of the Year in 2009 and 2010, and the 2008 Great West Runner of the Year. She won 14 event titles at conference meets in three seasons between the NCC and the Great West, and was the school's first conference champion at the Division I level. Fitzsimmons held six individual and two relay records upon graduation from South Dakota. 
 
Fitzsimmons married fellow track and field athlete, Sean Fitzsimmons. The pair reside in South Sioux City, Nebraska with their three children, Aurora, Callum and Kieran.
 
Robinson is South Dakota's all-time leader in career digs with 2,019. She has the top-two single-season marks from the 30-point rally scoring era (2001-07) with 616 in 2007 and 615 in 2006. She also set a program record for digs in a match with 41 against Northern State in 2006, a mark that currently ranks second in USD history.
 
Robinson was a two-time North Central Conference Defensive Player of the Year as the Coyotes' libero in 2006 and 2007. She averaged 5.33 digs over 379 sets played through her four-year career. She also ranks third all-time in career service aces with 155.
 
Robinson married former Coyote football player, Tyler Robinson, and together they founded Krave Gym in 2013. The pair reside in West Des Moines, Iowa, with their three children, Pierce, Ivy and Porter.
 
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 North Central Conference women's titles and had 14 combined NCAA Championship appearances. He guided the women to a ninth-place finish at the 2007 national meet, the third-best finish in program history. It was the third time since 2003 that USD had finished in the top-10 at the national meet. He was a four-time NCC Cross Country Coach of the Year from 2002-05.
 
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. Mario, 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 Olympic marathon.
 
Kinnunen is being recognized posthumously after passing away last fall to a hard-fought battle with cancer. He shared his life with his wife of 39 years, Deb, and their three children, Justin, Kelsi and Kip. Deb resides and teaches in Irene, South Dakota. Justin and his significant other, Julie, also live in Irene. Kelsi and her husband, Jason, reside in Watertown, South Dakota, and are expecting their first child in September. Kip and his wife, Mayumi, reside in Brookings, South Dakota. Kinnunen's wife and children fondly remember attending track meets and practices while he coached at USD. His family misses his quick wit, mischievous smile, and the way he always pushed them to be their best.
 
Merrigan has been involved as an active volunteer in USD athletics for the better part of four decades. He has been the voice of Coyote track and field since USD moved into the DakotaDome in 1979 and was the longtime PA announcer for Coyote football and basketball as well.
 
A native of Vermillion, South Dakota, Merrigan attended USD and began helping as a spotter for USD football games with longtime announcer "Monk" Johnson. His voice has been synonymous over the loudspeakers at track and field meets as he's announced North Central Conference, Great West Conference and Summit League meets. He has worked NCAA Division II Championships, NAIA Championships, the Sioux City Relays, the Howard Wood Dakota Relays and the South Dakota state high school championships. Merrigan was named the 2001 Dan Lennon Award recipient for his support of USD track and field and was awarded the Noel Olson Volunteer of the Year Award by the North Central Conference in 2002.
 
Merrigan retired from the Clay Rural Water System in Wakonda, South Dakota, in 2019 after 38 years. He resides in Vermillion with his wife, Janet. They have four children and five grandchildren.
 
The 2008 South Dakota women's track and field team sent the Coyote athletic department into the Division I era with a bang. The team swept North Central Conference indoor and outdoor titles under head coach Lucky Huber and finished sixth at the NCAA Division II indoor and outdoor championship meets.
 
Huber was the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's national coach of the year following the outdoor season.
 
Eight individuals and four relays captured All-America honors during the 2008 season. Emma Erickson, inducted to the Henry Heider Coyote Sports Hall of Fame last fall, captured national titles in the indoor and outdoor 800 meters. Kavan was runner-up in the outdoor 5,000 meters and third place in the indoor 5,000 meters. The indoor distance medley relay was runner-up and the outdoor 4x100-meter relay was third.