Five students from St Mary’s College and one from Gunnedah High School made the Distinguished Achievers List, receiving marks between 90-100 for at least one subject in the HSC.

Australian Tertiary Admission Rankings (ATAR) were released this morning, with St Mary’s College student Sarah Clark earning an oustanding 97.15.

Sarah, the daughter of Michael and Kellee Clark, was at the gym with her mum yesterday morning when the text message with her exam results came through at 5.50am.

“I was nervous, I knew there was nothing more I could do,” Sarah said.

“When the text came through I was on the bike and mum was on the rower and we were both sitting there crying – it was pure joy.

“There were more tears this morning when my ATAR came through.

“I worked really hard and it has paid off – I thought it’s just one year of my life, get stuck in and get it over and done with.”

The 18-year-old received a band 6 in advanced mathematics, advanced English and religion, as well as a band 5 in biology and physics, and a band E3 in extension English and mathematics.

Sarah is hoping to study medicine at the University of NSW in Sydney next year.

Mrs Clark said the family was very proud of Sarah’s results.

“She has worked extremely hard and deserves every mark,” Mrs Clark said.

“We are extremely proud of her.”

Benj Porter is no stranger to “putting in the hard yards” after eight years of practice playing the tenor horn for the Gunnedah Shire Band resulted in a band 6 in music for his HSC.

The music exam involves aural and practical sections, with Benj, who also plays the euphonium, quietly confident about his performance but nervous about the aural exam.

“When I received the text, I thought ‘wow’, I didn’t expect that,” Benj said.

“It was kind of a big shock.

“A special thanks to the Gunnedah Shire Band and Laurence Rowe for their support.”

The 18-year-old also received a band 4 in chemistry and mathematics, a band 3 in physics and English, and a band E2 in extension mathematics.

Benj, the son of Peter and Sandy Porter, received an ATAR of 68.95 and is hoping to study engineering surveying at Newcastle University next year.

“I think it’s going to be very competitive to get into uni, so many people did so well,”Benj said.

Bella Doughty from St Mary’s was pleased with her results, earning an 87.5 ATAR and a band 6 in English, as well as an E4 in extension English.

Bella hopes to study speech pathology at Newcastle University.

Classmate Cody Baldwin has applied to study a Bachelor of Arts majoring in theatre at Melbourne’s Monash University.

Cody earned an 86.3 ATAR and received a band 6 in music and extension English.

The 2014 ATAR average was 68.95, according to the Universities Admissions Centre.