Best friends skipping school occurs often, any principal or guidance counselor can tell you.

But skipping school all the way to China ? Now that is one for the books.

Especially when it's the teacher doing the skipping.

April Steiner-Bennett and Christin Wurth-Thomas, good friends when they were Lady Razorback teammates as April Steiner and Christin Wurth lettering together from 2001-03 and better friends now even since adding husbands, will skip some of Steiner-Bennett's August teaching physical education duties at Springdale's Hellstern Middle School to go do their thing in Beijng.

Don't bother reporting Steiner-Bennett to the principal. She's got a written excuse that's more than a mere note from home.

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It's a note from a home representing every American's home, the U. S Olympic team.

Steiner-Bennett will pole vault, and Wurth-Thomas run the 1, 500 meters for the U. S. Olympic team in Beijing. Both qualified as one of three U. S representatives in their event at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.

Other than their spouses, families and maybe their old college coaches who still coach them, Arkansas head women's track and cross county coach Lance Harter and Arkansas pole vault / throws coach Bryan Compton, none were happier in Eugene for Steiner and Wurth than the two athletes were for each other.

Compton recalled Wurth switching gears toward Steiner even in the immediate aftermath of her topthree Olympic Trials finish.

" When Christin was on her victory lap, " Compton said, " I gave her a high five and the first thing she asked was how is April doing. "

Doing precariously well would have been the apt answer.

" When she made the team, I was still at 14-9, " Steiner said of her vault process that earned her No. 3 spot on her second vault at 15-1. " So I said, ' She's made the team, now you need to earn your spot. ' Then when we were done, it was like jump on each other. We were so ecstatic. We're like sisters. "

They made immediate plans to room together when they compete in Beijing.

With the top two vaulters at the Trials, led by American recordholder Jen Stuczynski winning at 16-1, clearing 16 feet, the third spot was up for grabs with a bunch vying at 14-11.

Steiner and Compton gambled that Steiner, who missed her first bar on the first vault, could pass 14-11 and make the next height, 15-2, with much of the competition weeded out at 14-11.

It worked to perfection, though not before Steiner was sitting fourth going into the 15-2 vault. Erica Bertolina cleared the 14-11 that Steiner passed.

" When she made it, " Steiner said, " I tried not to think, ' there goes my spot. ' I just said, ' all right, you've planned for this, you've worked hard to keep this bar up there, you've been pretty consistent at it in practice and meets, so just keep doing what you've been doing. '"

She did, and Bertolina didn't.

Consistency enables Steiner, a three-time Arkansas All-American, to compete with the elite. Even the best, Stuczynski risked no-heighting before finally clearing her first bar on the third and final try, can have horrific days in track and field's most unpredictable event.

" She's such a solid vaulter, " Compton said. " She doesn't make very many mistakes. There might be a lot of girls that jump a lot higher than we do throughout the United States, but they don't jump consistently 15-foot like we do. "

Or want it as much. Steiner even ate maggott-filled mashed potatoes on TV's Fear Factor when she needed money to keep vaulting after her UA days.

" Mashed potatoes, " Steiner said, " are very, very limited in my life now. "

Steiner was back in her home state of Arizona training with Stacy Dragila, her good friend and 2004 U. S. Olympic champion, when Steiner ate the moving lumps in the mashed potatoes.

However she discovered Arkansas was her real home and Compton still her real coach when her technique abandoned her during a meet in London.

" I called him from London hysterical because I had noheighted, and things weren't going well, " Steiner said. " I'm like, I need to come back to you. And he welcomed me back with open arms. "

Her return certainly has been welcomed by Arkansas.

The UA gets to claim another Olympian while a Springdale Hellstern has a teacher vaulting to the head of the class.