BRIEFLY : BRUINS HIRE BURNS.

The Boston Bruins made Pat Burns their head coach on Wednesday, trusting the two-time Coach of the Year with Toronto and Montreal to restore another traditional NHL franchise.

Burns, 45, becomes only the second man to coach three of the NHL's ``Original Six'' teams, and the first since Dick Irvin joined the Canadiens in 1940 after coaching the Blackhawks and Maple Leafs. Irvin took all three to the Stanley Cup finals.

Burns took Montreal to the finals and made it to the conference finals twice with Toronto. But the Maple Leafs fired him near the end off the 1996 season during an eight-game losing streak.

RUNNING: Sixteen runners, including John and Suzanne Murphy, have been removed from the official results of the 101st Boston Marathon, race director Guy Morse said.

The Murphys, who seemingly set records while finishing first in the men's 60 and over and women's 55-59 age groups, were among 13 who were disqualified. Three others were removed for having others run with their assigned bib numbers.

TENNIS: Monica Seles breezed to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Maria Antonia Sanchez of Spain in the second round of the Yellow Pages Open in Madrid, Spain. Defending champion and No. 2 seed Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic easily handled Sweden's Asa Carlsson 6-2, 6-2.

In World Team Cup play, Michael Chang lost to Goran Ivanisevic 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in Duesseldorf, Germany, but the United States beat Croatia 2-1.

Third-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa and unseeded Sabine Appelmans of Belgium won the only matches played before rain forced postponement of the rest of the day's matches in the Strasbourg Open in Strasbourg, France.

ALSO: The San Diego Chargers signed tight end Freddie Jones to a three-year contract, becoming the first team to sign its top pick in the 1997 draft. . . . The Green Bay Packers re-signed free-agent linebacker Wayne Simmons to a one-year contract. . . . Former Jacksonville State University football coach Bill Burgess has filed a lawsuit against the university and its president, claiming he was wrongfully fired. . . . Defending champion Arizona took a five-stroke lead while San Jose State's Janice Moodie led all individuals with a 4-under 68 in the opening round of the NCAA Division I women's golf championship in Upper Arlington, Ohio. . . . Former NBA star Julius Erving and ex-NFL running back Joe Washington are giving NASCAR's Winston Cup series its first minority-owned full-time racing team in 25 years. The two said they have formed Washington Erving Motorsports and will begin fielding Fords on stock-car racing's premier circuit next year.