One can be a lonely number, especially when it equals a season's victory total.

The Butler varsity girls lacrosse and softball teams each tallied one win last spring. The Golden Tornado's boys and girls swimming teams combined to post one section triumph last winter.

Each of those programs, as well as boys tennis, has a new head coach for the 2005-06 school year.

In just her second year in the district, Lindsay Partridge takes over as girls softball coach. She is a math teach at Butler Junior High.

Joe Dippold, an assistant coach under Julie Baccanti at Butler last spring, is the new girls lacrosse coach.

Jeff Armstrong, involved in coaching swimming since 1976, replaces Amber Schmeider as boys and girls swim coach. Schmeider accepted a teaching position in Palm Beach, Fla., this summer.

David Hartzell, boys tennis coach at Valley High School the past two years, replaces Aaron Wilf as Butler's boys tennis coach. The Golden Tornado won their section in 2003 and were runners-up in 2004 under Wilf.

Partridge is a 1998 Hampton graduate, where she played basketball, softball and volleyball, and went on to play Division II softball at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C.

A shoulder injury suffered her freshman year limited Partridge's effectiveness on the field, though she was an Academic All-American.

"I'm pleased to have an opportunity to coach varsity softball so quickly," Partridge said. "I wasn't anticipating this, but I'm looking forward to it."

Partridge also coaches eighth-grade girls basketball at Butler and was an assistant junior high softball coach last year.

"There are a lot of strong teams out there and I want us to be competitive right away," she said. "I know what college coaches look for and that needs to be built within this program.

"We want scouts at our games. We want to make progress every year."

Partridge plans to tweak Butler's feeder system and develop pitchers at a young age.

Armstrong, 50, has coached five high school swim teams in the Cleveland area, including four Greater Cleveland Conference champions. He's also coached swim clubs in Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

He was an assistant coach with the Seneca Valley Swim Club the past two years. Along with taking over the Butler High School post, Armstrong has been named head coach of the Butler YMCA team.

"The high school and YMCA coordinated that, and I think it's important," Armstrong said. "You look at the top programs - Bethel Park, North Allegheny, Seneca Valley - the coach is also in charge of the youth program."

Armstrong never swam competitively himself.

"I never had the opportunity," he said. "I was a basketball player in high school and began swimming on my own when I went to college.

"I've always liked swimming and when a YMCA in Cleveland ran a notice for a coach, I applied. I wasn't qualified for the head job, but they also needed someone to work with the 8-and-under group.

"I took that on, applied for head coach a year and a half later and have been coaching ever since," Armstrong added.

Looking at Butler's program, Armstrong said there's a talented group of junior girls "who can probably fare well at the WPIAL and state meets next year.

"The boys program probably needs a couple of years of development," he added.

Dippold, 26, played lacrosse at North Hills High School and Allegheny College. He made the transition from player to assistant women's coach in 2000 due to declining numbers in the men's program.

He spent two years as an assistant coach at North Hills before spending the last two years as an assistant at Butler.

"We've got 39 players and it's a junior-laden team," Dippold said of the Golden Tornado. "I'm excited about the future of lacrosse here."

Hartzell, 56, is a retired optometrist. He retired three years ago and served as an assistant tennis coach at Knoch for a season.

He became head coach at Valley in 2003 when coach Dave Zamperini took a year off. Hartzell led Valley to the WPIAL semifinals that season.

Zamperini returned last year and joined Hartzell as co-coach at Valley, and the team reached the semifinal round again. The Vikings are 27-5 over the past two seasons.

Hartzell was planning to continue as a co-coach at Valley before accepting the Butler position.