They took her sneakers off. They stopped her cold in her tracks. The finish line had been removed from sight. Just when she was picking up the pace, just when she was ready to run out of her shoes, the blue and white jersey had been yanked off her back.

Perhaps forever.

Just when Attleboro High distance runner Bridget DeVincent was beginning to achieve the recognition statewide that befalls some of the best in the Commonwealth, she was told that she could not go to the starting line, that the race was over -- at least for the time being.

``I couldn't believe it, I was so upset, I was so frustrated, I was pleading with them,'' recalled the Bombardier junior over the holiday weekend, one that she was thankful to celebrate -- especially since she had her running shoes back on, stepping to the starting line and finishing the race.

Between the winter and spring track seasons of 2004, DeVincent heard words that she never thought that she would hear -- ``we don't want you to run again.'' Having a heart murmur since her adolescent years, DeVincent had passed all of her physical examinations and had been given the go-ahead to proceed with normal childhood development. But, last winter, upon completion of her regular six-month checkup, her attending physicians did not like the results of tests taken at Children's Hospital in Boston.

Nothing alarming, but rather than err -- and there have been countless documented cases of runners, even in their teenage years, of having fatal conditions -- her team or cardiologists took away her running shoes. No more running for now, or for the foreseeable future.

``I remember pleading with them, how could they do this to me?'' said DeVincent. ``I put up a fight. They couldn't actually give us a good reason, but the ultrasound tests detected something that they didn't like.''

She didn't like being told not to compete. After all, during the 2003-04 winter track season, DeVincent shattered the Bombardier indoor record in the two mile run with a time of 11:33, that during a top 10 finish at the MIAA State Championship meet.

She was determined to drop her times in the mile and the two mile during the spring season, to run whatever leg coach Peter Lacasse wanted her to on any relay team. But, instead of having a number on her back for races, she had a Bombardier jacket on, serving as unofficial team cheerleader.

Forced to sit out the spring season, DeVincent returned for her six-month checkup during the summer and heard the words that she wanted to hear -- get back on the track.

With the fall cross country season serving as her springboard, with a top 20 finish at the MIAA State Championship Meet, a 10th place at the Class A Meet and a pair of sixth-place finishes at invitational meets, DeVincent is already on a record-setting pace two weeks into the winter season, having already clocked a 5:25 time in the mile run.

``I'm so grateful that I can run again,'' said DeVincent, the best Christmas gift that she would ever receive. ``It was so hard, so frustrating not being able to run.''

Slow it down

What her cardiologists told her was not to come to a complete standstill, but back off a bit. If you have to run, don't run at a competitive pace and don't, under any circumstances, run a race representing Attleboro High School. So DeVincent ran at her own pace. ``I worked out on my own, I just didn't compete,'' said DeVincent. Not only did DeVincent breath a sigh of relief when her physicians gave her the green light in July, so too did Lacasse. ``She always had a lot of potential, but when doctors told her to shut it down, our concerns were with her. When she came back, she had no restrictions as far as training. The hardest part was the racing, the mental conditions.''

``I missed a whole season. All that time, during the spring and the summer I felt normal -- that's why I was frustrated,'' said DeVincent. ``There's nothing wrong with me.''

DeVincent is petite, standing about five-feet. But before becoming a Bombardier, her running was all done in chasing a soccer ball. Then she grew tired of chasing a round ball, liked the camaraderie of a track team and ran with a different purpose in mind. ``Soccer gave me the endurance to keep going. I like to run, so I figured that I'd try track.''

Despite her small stature, DeVincent has a strong stride according to Lacasse. ``She's tiny, but she's powerful. She gets a good push.''

Of course, DeVincent needs a new pair of running shoes every few months. ``It wasn't that hard coming back and now I'm looking forward to the indoor season,'' she continued. ``I just had to get used to that competitive feeling, I had to overcome a bit of that mental barrier.''

DeVincent wasn't so much concerned about placements, but her times.

``I put realistic goals in front of me,'' she added. ``That's all that I was happy about. I was determined to get back, determined to get back to where I was.''

And now heading into the new year, DeVincent would like to see a stopwatch recording a few scant seconds over the five-minute mark for the mile, similarly for an 11-minute and change time for the two-mile run.

``That's how I gauge myself, how I used to be,'' said DeVincent. ``Running makes me feel stronger about myself too -- feeling accomplishment, feeling that I've done well.''

After all, feeling well and being able to run is a win-win situation for her.

PETER GOBIS can be reached at 508-236-0375 or via e-mail at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com