Lakewood High School student’s senior project a ‘Hole in the Wall’

LAKEWOOD — Mitchel Gogert took an idea and ran with it.

Now future members of the Lakewood High School cross country team can run through it.

For his senior project, Gogert constructed a “Hole in the Wall” to honor retired high school cross country coach Mike Evans’ naming of the school’s annual meet, which began in 1984.

Gogert worked with a local architect, lumber store and concrete company to build an install an actual “Hole in the Wall” on the school’s cross country course.

Using a backhoe, Gogert erected two large concrete walls on either side of the track. He then added a large piece of wood that stretched from one wall to the other, and affixed a Lakewood Cougars sign to it.

Gogert’s idea came from a simple question — where did the name of the school’s meet come from?

After conducting some research and talking to Evans, he found out that Evans used to read about Jesse James when he was a child. James and his gang or robbers would hide out in a canyon that had only one entry, and thus were named the “Hole in the Wall Gang.”

The opening of the cross country race during its first year reminded Evans of the James gang, and thus the name stuck.

Evans helped establish the event to make some money and establish the school’s cross country team, which at the time had only been around for about three years, according to a presentation Gogert gave the Lakewood School Board on March 3.

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