Ostrowski, Falemalu picked as Hawaii’s football captains

By an overwhelming margin, slotback Miah Ostrowski and defensive end Paipai Falemalu were voted as the Hawaii football team’s captains.

"I thought they were terrific choices," head coach Norm Chow said of the polling of players.

Ostrowski said he was "kind of surprised" by the outcome.

"We have a lot of fifth-year guys who are leaders," he said.

In March, Ostrowski completed his career as point guard — and captain — of the Rainbow Warriors basketball team.

Ostrowski said he had never won an election at Punahou School.

"I was a cruiser," he said, smiling.

Ostrowski signed with UH in February 2007, but did not enroll until the following January. He did not become a starter until the 2011 season.

Although the Warriors have switched from a four-receiver offense, Ostrowski has crafted a role as a third receiver. He also is being considered for the punt returner’s job.

Falemalu avoided a leadership role until his senior year at Kahuku High.

"Growing up, I played on the offensive line — not one of the glory positions," he said. "In (junior varsity), I played wide receiver. Junior year, I started to pick it up a little bit. My senior year, I was captain of the football team."

Falemalu was a key player in the 2008 recruiting class, which was assembled in three weeks after June Jones resigned as the Warriors’ head coach. Falemalu convinced several Kahuku teammates to consider UH.

"I always wanted to play for Hawaii," Falemalu said. "It’s a big honor to play for my family and to represent the island."

Dunnachie at practice

Punter Alex Dunnachie rejoined the Warriors on Monday, three days after he pleaded no contest to a drunken-driving charge.

Dunnachie has been told he will miss an undetermined amount of games, but he is allowed to practice and attend classes. He remains on scholarship.

He said he addressed the team two days after his arrest in early July. He also has been meeting with the newcomers.

"I’m looking forward to being that role model I haven’t been the past few weeks," Dunnachie said.

Chow said he has been impressed with Dunnachie’s attitude. "He’s been terrific," Chow said. "He has a way to go. But his teammates are looking for him to be one of them again. We’ll see."

Dunnachie did not participate in the first three practices of training camp. Coincidentally, the Warriors did not have live punting drills those days.

On Monday, Dunnachie punted for about 15 minutes to returners Ostrowski, Scott Harding, Tony Grimes and Mike Edwards.

"That was a way of getting back into it," Dunnachie said. "You don’t realize how much you miss it until you come back to it."

Turner won’t play

Cornerback Justin "J.T." Turner will not meet the requirements to play for the Warriors this season.

UH had been recruiting Turner for nearly two years. He needed to earn an associate degree to transfer to UH. Although he still is working on that, he will not have accumulated enough credits before the start of UH’s fall semester.

The Warriors remain hopeful cornerback Ronald Fields will meet the requirements to play this season.