Owen to miss a week

The UH center suffered a rapid heartbeat

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii center Dustin Owen will miss at least a week of practice after suffering a rapid heartbeat while lifting weights on Monday.

The senior from Brawley, Calif., said after yesterday's practice that it lasted for several minutes, but that he was fine now.

"I just want to get this red jersey off of me and get back on the field," said Owen, who has had a good spring as the top center. "I don't want this to hurt my chances this fall."

UH head football coach June Jones said his primary concern was Owen's health. Until team doctor Andrew Nichols gives him the OK, he'll remain sidelined.

"I'm not sure what happened," Jones said. "I'm not sure what it even was, but he will undergo some tests to see if there's a problem. If the doctors say it's OK for him to return for the last week of practice, we'll get him in there."

In other camp news, running back Robert Kemfort will spend a week at practice working at outside linebacker, while Matt Wright moved from defensive lineman to fullback. The moves aren't permanent -- yet.