2 of the Hundred

Aaron Funkhouser and Lilly Hedges were on the edge of their seats, along with all of the other band members in their cream and crimson uniforms with the interlocking "IU” stitched across their chests.

Could the Hoosiers actually do it? Would they be able to hold off the perennial powerhouse Ohio State for the Big Ten title?

“I’ll never forget when we won that game,” said Funkhouser. “Everyone was screaming, crying, hugging each other.”

No musician joins the Marching Hundred expecting to witness any level of football success.

At least, that was the case for decades, including when Hedges and Funkhouser signed up after graduating from Jay County High School in 2022.

But all that has changed. Since the short trip north on Interstate 69 to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game, they have made much longer jaunts following the Hoosier gridders to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta for the College Football Playoff quarterfinal and semifinal games.

They fly to Miami today, starting a final memorable trip to support IU in the national championship game against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium.

Growth of a program

Despite IU’s historic lack of football success — just three winning records over a 28-year span — Funkhouser had an impression of what college football games at a Big Ten school would be like.

“I guess I had this vision that like they would be packed to walls with fans,” he said. “And they weren't.

“I would see us get beaten by like 30, 40 points. I saw us going to quadruple overtime against Akron.

“And so my first two years in college, we always had this hope that we were gonna get better, but we always knew like it wasn't gonna happen.”

Enter Curt Cignetti.

The coach who has done nothing but win everywhere he goes — Google him — made things better. The Hoosiers immediately went 11-2 in his first season, losing only to eventual national champion Ohio State in the regular season and in-state rival Notre Dame in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

This year, it’s been perfection. IU avenged last season’s loss to the Buckeyes with a victory in the Big Ten championship game and has since throttled Alabama and Oregon in the College Football Playoff to set up Monday night’s clash with the 10th-ranked Hurricanes.

“People show up, which is awesome,” said Hedges, who plays alto saxophone. “And it's really cool to see people showing up and believing and rooting and just being diehard fans. It's a huge difference.

“And just going into game day more excited, like really wanting your team to win. I just feel like there's so much more team spirit, more than I ever imagined …”

Musical commitment

Being a part of the Marching Hundred, which dates back to 1896, goes well beyond the game-day commitment of playing and cheering at football games. It’s a semester-long grind.

The season typically starts with a 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. band camp. That’s before classes begin.

Then, it’s two hours of practice a day, four to five days a week. 

The schedule spreads out a bit more late in the fall semester, but band members also had to contend with the Big Ten championship game coinciding with finals week.

“Everyone was stressed out to the max with balancing the Hundred and all of our other classes,” said Funkhouser. “So that was rough.”

Though the practice schedule thinned out a bit during the busier end of the fall semester, the Marching Hundred hit it hard after Christmas to prepare for their postseason trips. Those practices sometimes lasted six hours.

Road to Hard Rock

One of the perks of being a member of the Marching Hundred is getting to travel with the team throughout the postseason. Before 2024, that didn’t amount to much. Occasional bowl visits were to games named for restaurants (Outback), meat brands (Foster Farms) and clothing styles (Pinstripe). The Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl, those games are not.

This year’s trip to the Rose Bowl was the first for the Hoosiers since 1968 and their first win in “The Granddaddy of Them All.”

Simply being there was something special.

“Just the lore of the Rose Bowl is insane,” said Hedges. “So being able to actually go and experience that was amazing.”

Because of the enormity of the event, Indiana University brought back all of the living former directors of the Marching Hundred. During one of the practices, each of them got in front of the group and directed a song.

“It was so special because you could see it in their eyes how much this really meant to them,” said Funkhouser, who plays trombone.

Free time was limited in California, but he and some friends explored Chinatown on the one night they had off.

Both Hedges and Funkhouser mentioned their visit to Georgia Aquarium — it was the largest in the world when it opened in 2005 — as a favorite moment on their Peach Bowl trip. They also spent some time at the World of Coca-Cola.

“There's little snippets of each trip that really stand out to me,” said Funkhouser of Redkey. 

“I have fun all the time, but that trip was especially fun, getting to go to the aquarium. And always in this postseason, we get a lot more chance to interact with fans. … That is another new highlight that I’ve really, really enjoyed about all of this.”

Hometown impact

Hedges and Funkhouser were seniors during former Jay County High School band director Kelly Smeltzer’s final year before his retirement. 

“So happy for both of them,” said Smeltzer, who has visited Indiana University Memorial Stadium to watch his former students over the last several years. “Both outstanding students here at Jay County for us. I’m glad they had the opportunity to enjoy a great college experience. …

“It’s once in a lifetime. I’m so happy for both of them.”

They helped the Marching Patriots to third-place finishes at the Indiana State Fair during their freshman and sophomore seasons and then fourth place in 2021 following a year off because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both former Patriots credited their time with bands in Jay County for laying the groundwork that allowed them to become part of the Marching Hundred.

“I do want to say a special thank you to Mrs. (Jennifer) Crum, who was my sixth grade band teacher, and Mr. Smeltzer … for getting me here. … All that time, it led to this. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

“I would not be here if Kelly Smeltzer and the Jay County Marching Patriots hadn't set such a solid foundation and my love for band, especially marching band,” said Hedges.

IU and after

Hedges and Funkhouser are members of Kappa Kappa Psi, an honorary fraternity. It promotes college bands, honors band members, stimulates campus leadership, seeks to foster relationships between college bands and works to provide a positive college experience for band members.

Both have had opportunities to travel during their college experiences.

For Hedges, a Portland resident it was by being part of Remote Area Medical, an organization that offers dental, vision and medical care for underserved communities. She traveled with a group to serve a community in Kentucky, volunteering at a free healthcare clinic.

Funkhouser spent time studying abroad in Europe. His trip overseas included a six-week stint as an intern for Two Chics Media to gain experience as he is a double major in interactive digital media and mathematics.

Hedges already has one foot out of college while the other continues to march with the Hundred, having graduated in December. She studied psychology pre-med but has decided not to attend medical school. Instead, she is taking a gap/growth year to save money and plans to pursue a doctor of psychology degree. She’d like to become a clinical neuropsychologist.

Funkhouser will graduate from IU in the spring. His current plans are to become a high school math teacher, though he’s not sure where he’d like to work.

Ready for a title

Hedges, Funkhouser and the rest of the Marching Hundred were slated to fly out of Indianapolis this morning.

Over the next few days, they’ll play various pep rallies and other performances and continue to practice for their role in the big game. They also plan to meet up with the University of Miami’s Frost Band of the Hour on Sunday.

The focus, though, is on 7:30 p.m. Monday night, when the Hoosiers will play the Hurricanes with the national championship on the line.

“I am looking forward to the game,” said Hedges. “I can't wait for Indiana to be on this national level and I can't wait to watch the game to support and … just experience it all live.”

And if IU wins?

“I have no idea,” said Funkhouser. “Bloomington's gonna go crazy. We've never won a national championship. Gonna be a lot of tears a lot of thank yous. It's just gonna be such a serendipitous experience.”