After a grueling season and a run to the Division I field hockey Final Four, Katie Naughton decided to relax – in her own way.

“I think I’ll give my body about a week off,” said the Goffstown resident, who completed her senior year of athletics at the University of Iowa in the national semifinals. “I think I’ll probably take up tennis or something.”

Naughton played at Goffstown High School, where she helped the Grizzlies win the Class I state title as a freshman in 2001, and she also played on the United States U16 National Team.

In search of a new experience outside of New England, Naughton found the Hawkeyes, with 2004 Big Ten Coach of the Year Tracey Griesbaum at the helm.

“She’s the most natural athlete on our team,” said Griesbaum. “She’s the quickest and the strongest by far.”

Prior to her freshman year at Iowa, Naughton received a binder with expectations about preseason conditioning. The first test was a 1-mile run. Naughton had been training for it all summer, and she ran it in about seven minutes.

“We started running, and I thought I had done a good mile,” said Naughton. “I got completely smoked by my teammates. I don’t think I ever thought I wasn’t ready for it, but I took that and used it as my motivation to get better.”

Naughton, it turned out, wasn’t out of place with the Hawkeyes. She was a Big Ten All-Academic Team selection and more recently an All- American selection for the NCAA Regional team.

As a freshman in 2005, Naughton saw action in all 18 games, scoring five goals. During her senior season she was third on the team with 11 goals, as Iowa fell just short of the national title game, losing 2-1 to eventual champ Maryland in double overtime.

The experience was strange for the Goffstown resident. Naughton said she and the team received police escorts everywhere they went during the Final Four.

And playing at the Division I level was a time-consuming task for Naughton.

“It really teaches you a lot of discipline and time management,” said Naughton. “It sometimes becomes more of a job. You do things you don’t want to do, and it becomes frustrating, but in the end you do it because you love the game.”

In Goffstown, Naughton is a celebrity of sorts.

One of her former Grizzlies teammates was the referee at a game in town and asked the current Grizzlies if they knew who Naughton was. Team members excitedly answered they did indeed, even those who’d never met her. “It makes me feel good to know that younger girls look up to me,” said Naughton. “Coming from Goffstown, not many athletes go to Division I. I’m really proud to have come from here.”

Griesbaum said it was impressive to see Naughton make the adjustment from Class I in high school to Big Ten in college. “She’s tough on the field. You definitely want her on your team, not as your opponent,” said Griesbaum. “You wouldn’t think for a player to make it from a small town in New Hampshire to Division I, but it worked out great for her – and for the University of Iowa.”