Team(s): 2011 Pan American Games
2011 ITU Rank: 84
2011 USAT Rank: 5
First Year Elite: 2001
Twitter: @markfretta
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Resides: Colorado Springs, Colo.
College: Holy Cross (undergraduate), Willamette University (law)
Height: 5-11
Weight: 150
Birthdate: 8/3/1977 (34)
Career Highlights
One of two Americans to hold the No. 1 ITU World Ranking (2006)
2012 Highlights: Finished 12th at the Bridgetown ITU Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup on Feb. 12.
Elite Triathlon Career: Wrapped up the 2011 ITU World Championship Series as the No. 5 American and 84th overall • Selected to represent the United States at the 2011 Pan American Games in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he placed 23rd • Placed 14th at the 2011 Ishigaki ITU World Cup • Member of the U.S. team who took fifth at the 2011 ITU Team Triathlon World Championships • Posted a 16:26 split in the final leg of the team relay for the 10th fastest overall split • Earned top-10 finishes at the Lima (fourth) and Salinas (eighth) ITU Pan American Cups • Finished the 2010 ITU World Championship Series as the No. 9 American and 96th overall • Finished 16th at the 2010 Tongyeong ITU World Cup on Oct. 16 • Captured his first major career victory at the 2010 Chicago Triathlon on Aug. 29 • Placed 28th at the June 13 Hy-Vee ITU Elite Cup and was 24th at the ITU WCS stop in Seoul on May 8 • Finished 2009 as the No. 3 American and No. 46 overall in ITU World Championship Series rankings • Took fourth at the 2009 USAT Elite National Championship • Took 14th at the Washington, D.C., ITU World Championship Series event and grabbed a 24th-place finish at the ITU World Championship Grand Final in Gold Coast, Australian • Was the No. 8 American and 74th overall in the 2008 ITU World Cup Series rankings • Logged a pair of 17th-place finishes in ITU World Cup events — at both Huatulco and Mooloolaba • Placed seventh at the San Francisco Pan American Cup race • Finished third at ITU Geneva Pan American Cup in 2007 • Finished second at ITU Doha World Cup in 2006 • Ranks as one of only two American male athletes ever to have held the ITU World No. 1 Rank when he held the No. 1 rank in May-June 2006 before suffering a season-ending collar bone fracture (Hunter Kemper finished the year ranked No. 1 in 2005) • Finished 2006 ranked No. 22 overall and third among Americans in the ITU World Cup Series rankings • Participated in the 2002, 2003, and 2005 ITU Elite World Championships • Finished second at the 2006 ITU Doha World Cup in Doha, Qatar • Finished third at the 2003 ITU World Cup in Tongyeong, Korea • At that time, the finish in Korea was the first podium finish for a U.S. man at a World Cup since 2001 • Qualified for the 2002 world championship team by finishing as the third American, seventh overall, at The Monster Challenge: Tri Boston world championship qualifier • Finished as the top American in four ITU points races in 2001, his first season as an elite.
Amateur Triathlon Career: Won his age group at the 2000 sprint national championships • Was the Northwest regional and sprint champion.
Athletic Background: All-state in track and field, cross-country, and swimming in high school • Named a high school all-American in swimming • Collegiate record holder in four swimming events at Holy Cross • Qualified for the NCAA Division I indoor/outdoor track championships in the mile and 1,500.
