PROVIDENCE — Many more men coach women and girls than women coach men and boys in college and high school sports.

But women do coach men and boys, successfully, and right here in Rhode Island.

Craig Lake, a woman, has worked as director of cross country and track and field at Brown University for four years. Before that she was associate head coach of men’s and women’s track at Columbia and before that an assistant coach for men’s and women’s track at George Washington University.

Lake’s men’s cross country team won the 2007 New England Championship.

Lake’s assistant coach for throws and multi events, Michelle Eisenreich, has worked at Brown for nine years and is the 2009 Northeast Assistant Coach of the Year. She coached three Brown throwers to the NCAA Championships this month. Sophomore Craig Kinsley finished third in the javelin and is an All-America. Senior Bryan Powlen finished 18th in the discus and sophomore Brynn Smith 18th in the women’s hammer.

In the Rhode Island Interscholastic League, Jackie Fagan, a woman, coached the South Kingstown boys volleyball team to the state championship in May. Joanne Fitts coached the North Kingstown boys volleyball team to the championship game.

These 32 women were head coaches of boys teams in 2008-2009: Betty Walsh of Chariho, Tiffany Risch of Coventry, Marianne Curtis of Middletown, Natalie O’Brien of North Smithfield, Andrea Dorr of Scituate, Mary Lou Morissette of Prout, Suzanne Del Deo of Tiverton and Stephanie Gonsalves of West Warwick in tennis; Erin Cirello of Classical, Lisa Bucci of Hope, Abby Phyfe of Moses Brown, Meredith Ashworth of Narragansett, Christina Lima DeKroon of North Smithfield, Kacie Gallo of Rogers and Laurie Andrade of West Warwick in cross country.

Also, Amanda Rowley of Central Falls, Jamie Gaulin-Ferretti of Cranston West, Kris Rose of East Providence, Terri DiGiovanni of Middletown, Jillian Oresman of North Kingstown, Allison Wroblewski of North Providence, Tara Donovan of Portsmouth, Christine Hague of South Kingstown, Kristen Need of Prout and Bree Schebel of Tolman in swimming, and Jan McMahon of Exeter/West Greenwich, Jadine Ferri of La Salle, Sally Stacy of Scituate, Chris Daily of Shea, Claire Baggeson of Toll Gate, Jean McGarry of Warwick Veterans and Tami DeSantis of Westerly in volleyball.

Among Independent Schools, Karen Morse has coached the Moses Brown boys tennis team for years.

And in Massachusetts last month, the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am Baseball League hired Justine Siegel as an assistant coach. Manager Chris Carminucci said in a release, “It absolutely does not matter to me that she is a woman.”

mszostak@projo.com