An 18-year-old Miami University freshman is being remembered as an eager student and someone highly thought of by educators and peers.

Nicole Sefton, of Morgan Twp., died in a single-vehicle crash on or just before Thursday morning, according to Sgt. Monte Mayer of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

The 2012 graduate of Ross High School was traveling east in the 5700 block of Hamilton Scipio Road — also known as Ohio 129 — in a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta when the vehicle traveled off the right side of the road, tumbled over and ejected Sefton before coming to rest in a field.

Rescue crews were dispatched to the scene around 6:20 a.m. Thursday after a passerby called 911 to report spotting the crashed vehicle, Mayer said.

Upon arrival, deputies discovered the car about 80 feet from the roadway and Sefton’s body nearby.

Sefton, who is believed to be the vehicle’s sole occupant, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Butler County Coroner’s Office.

The exact time and cause of the crash remain under investigation.

Sefton died of a head injury, according to autopsy results released Thursday by Butler County Coroner Lisa Mannix.

Students, teachers and administrators at Ross High School were “deeply saddened to hear of Nikki’s passing,” Principal Brian Martin said.

“It is always tragic when a young person’s life is cut short,” Martin said. “She was highly thought of by her peers and teachers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and family.”

Among the honor student’s many activities during her years at Ross High School, Sefton was “very involved” in the Future Farmers of America program, Martin said.

At Miami University, Sefton was a first-year athletic training major and a Hamilton Regional Campus student who commuted to Oxford for athletic training entry level courses, according to Pat Troesch, assistant department chairwoman of the department of kinesiology and health.

Troesch, an educator and athletic trainer who had Sefton in two of her classes, described her as “a very good student and a most impressive young woman.”

“She never missed a class except for when her grandfather died last semester,” Troesch said. “She sat in the front row and always participated. She was one of the eager students who was meant to be an athletic trainer and was eager and engaged in everything we did.”