JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 31

BACK IN THE U.S.A.
She planned to compete with the 
Slovakia national team in an Olympic 
qualification tournament in November 
but was ill (not with COVID) and 
decided not to travel.
It turned out to be a wise decision.
The four Yale games Elle would 
have missed had she traveled — 
against Cornell, Colgate, Harvard and 
Dartmouth from Nov. 5-13 — were all 
wins for the Bulldogs, who outscored 
their four opponents 22-4.
Elle had two goals and six assists in 
those games.
She had a great freshman season at 
Yale in 2019-20.
After scoring a hat trick in her first 
collegiate game and earning ECAC 
Hockey Rookie of the Week honors, 
she ended up sixth among Division I 
freshmen with .89 points per game, had 
11 goals and 14 assists, and led her team 
in plus-minus with plus-23.
Yale won a team record 17 games, 
finishing 17-15 for first-year coach 
Mark Bolding.
Elle is considering playing soccer 
for Yale starting this spring. She didn’t 
play in her freshman year because of 

a broken leg she suffered late in the 
hockey season.
Elle was an outstanding multi-sport 
athlete at Detroit Country Day School.
She was a four-time state champion 
in tennis, going 97-1 during her high 
school career, and a four-time All-State 
selection in soccer.
Her accomplishments helped her 
earn a prestigious honor in 2019, when 
she was one of three girls named a 
High School Athlete of the Year by the 
Jewish News and Michigan Jewish Sports 
Foundation.
Outside of high school, Elle was the 
captain and scoring leader for the Belle 
Tire 19U women’s hockey team that 
won a silver medal in 2018 and a bronze 
medal in 2019 at the USA Hockey 
national championships.
Elle is one of four children of Tod 
and Nicole Hartje. Tod played hockey at 
Harvard University and won a national 
championship. Nicole was the captain of 
the tennis team at Harvard.
The family attends Temple Shir 
Shalom in West Bloomfield Township. 

Please send sports news to 

stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

ELLE HARTJE

MAGYAR JEGKRONG

BOTTOM: Sunrise in Budapest, Hungary 

meant time for a selfie for Elle Hartje, who 

was in Budapest with the Slovakia national 

women’s hockey team.

BELOW: Elle Hartje (27) battles for the 

puck with a MAC Budapest player during 

the Elite Women’s Hockey League’s 2021 

bronze medal playoff game in Budapest, 

Hungary. Hartje and her Slovakian club 

team won the game. 

