It started as a joke between friends.

Then, before she knew it, everyone else was in on it.

Caelyn Orlandi - also known as "Goose" - is ranked 13th in this year's Coeur d'Alene High graduating class of 267.

As for the origin of her nickname, it all started in the second grade.

"Katie Rowe and I were calling each other animal names and she started calling me Goose," Orlandi said. "We thought it was funny, so then I started writing it on my papers and my teachers started calling me Goose. I thought it would eventually go away, then coach (Dale) Poff (Poffenroth) started calling me it and it really stuck. Now, they'll put it in the yearbook with my name Caelyn "Goose" Orlandi."

Some athletes shine at state tournaments, and for Orlandi, a 5-foot-9 guard, getting there has been expectation since her freshman season.

"When you're in those tournaments as a freshman, when you make it, you almost expect nothing less," Orlandi said. "That's your team goal, individual goal and that's what you work for. If I wouldn't have made it any of my years, I would have been absolutely disappointed."

As a freshman, Orlandi was a state qualifier in soccer, a reserve on the school's state 5A girls basketball championship team and qualified for state in track and field.

In the 2010 championship game against Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene rallied from down 10 points to beat the Bengals for a third straight state 5A title. On that night, Orlandi scored 13 points in nearly 27 minutes and made 9 of 10 free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

"That was a cool game to be a part of," said Orlandi of the 2010 title game. "I remember almost every play from that game and what we did. That was probably my favorite game to be a part of."

They've been back to the championship game twice since (2011, 2013), finishing second twice and placing third in 2012, beating Highland in a game that saw Orlandi heave a three-quarter-court buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter.

"That was kind of cool to do that," Orlandi said of the shot.

"She's the kind of kid that keeps you on your toes," Poffenroth said. "It really worked out for her. If things didn't work out in a game, she'd go home and think about it and how to improve the next time out. It was like having an extra coach on the court for all four years she was here."

On the soccer field, Coeur d'Alene went 12-7-3 to advance to state in the fall of 2009, going 1-2 in the tournament. They have failed to advance the last three years to state.

My freshman year, there were three freshman on the varsity team and six seniors," said Orlandi, a forward. "It was cool how they (the seniors) brought you into the team and made you feel welcome and taught you the ropes. They never put you down and made you feel more like a part of the team than they were. That year, it was like how I wanted to be and help the younger kids through and do what I want to do."

Orlandi added she learned from Dayna Drager and Amanda Buttrey as a freshman on the basketball team. Both went on play college basketball, Drager at College of Idaho and Buttrey at the Community Colleges of Spokane.

"I thought they were the coolest people ever," Orlandi said. "I learned so much from them. I wanted to make sure I worked hard like they did each day in practice and hoped to be good like they were some day. I only got the chance to play with them one year, but I learned so much from them."

After competing in track for the first three years, Orlandi played her senior year on the Coeur d'Alene softball team, which finished third in the recent state 5A tournament at Ramsey Park.

"I played softball until I was in eighth grade," Orlandi said. "So I thought about playing again, and considering it was my senior year, I just decided to play. I loved track too, but I just decided to make a change."

Orlandi was used primarily as an outfielder and courtesy runner for the Vikings, who finished 20-10.

"It was an awesome experience," Orlandi said. "I loved every single one of those girls. I made so many new friends and I just liked the softball atmosphere. Everyone was excited every day, and they had requirements as a team too, to get back to that state title game, so it was another hard-working program. I'm glad I did it. Really glad I did it."

"Those kids that play multiple sports, they develop more of their muscles because they're more active in different areas instead of focused on one individual thing," Poffenroth said. "She's been pretty much injury free and with softball this year, she had a chance to be a support person and not necessarily the star and just be a teammate."

Orlandi signed with Lewis-Clark State College to play basketball in April and plans to study pre-med and biology.

"I had some requirements for where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see out of a school and education," Orlandi said. "And it fit perfectly."

She joins Natahnee Spencer (Lapwai) and Brooke Litalien (Post Falls) - who she'll team with on the Region team in Wednesday's Jack Blair Memorial Girls All-Star Basketball Classic at Post Falls High - as incoming freshman for the Warriors next year.

"I grew up playing basketball with Brooke (with the Spokane Stars AAU program)," Orlandi said. "We've always been friends and I've known Natahnee for a few years. We're the guards coming in and we're going to battle and do our job."

Orlandi was also being recruited for basketball by Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, Whitworth, North Idaho College and Eastern Oregon. She also received some interest to compete in track, but opted to concentrate on basketball.

In the Frontier Conference, Orlandi will be opposed by former high school teammates Kendalyn Brainard and Erin Legel (Great Falls) and Drager (College of Idaho).

"I think it's cool that all the Coeur d'Alene players have gone on to play college basketball," Orlandi said. "It's going to be just another day in the gym and you're going to want to come out and beat the other one. It's going to be just like Poff's practices."

"We've done pretty well the last few years and had some kids that have gone on to play at the next level and others that could have, but realize there's other things to do," Poffenroth said. "The whole time Caelyn was here, she was surrounded by good players and hopefully she still is in the future."