MADISON, Wis. -- Three University of Wisconsin-Madison students died after a single-car crash early Wednesday morning.

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The Dane County Coroner's Office identified the victims as Daniel Myers, 22, Lindsey T. Plank, 23, and Richard H. Putze, 22.

All three victims were from Madison and killed when their car struck a tree in the 200 block of South Midvale Boulevard, near the intersection of Midvale and Hillcrest Drive, just after 1:45 a.m. Wednesday.

University officials say Plank and Putze were seniors majoring in chemistry.

Lindsey Plank's father, Mike Plank, said his daughter grew up in Stoughton and graduated with honors from Stoughton High School.

Myers was not enrolled for the fall semester, but he completed his degree requirements this summer in music performance specializing in piano.

Madison police said they are still investigating the crash and trying to determine if alcohol was a factor. At this time police are not releasing who was driving the car.

Dean of Students Lori Berquam said the timing of the tragedy is particularly hard just before the new semester begins. Berquam said university officials will meet with family and friends to start a memorial for the three students.

"This is all so sudden and is impacting so many students in the community," Berquam said. "It is such a horrific situation, but we don't want to ignore it. We'd like to honor these students."

She continued, "A new school year is a time for renewal and fresh starts, and it's just terrible something like this would happen that has such a big impact on our community. This coming on the heels of Brittany Zimmermann's death is another terrible blow to the university. We haven't had an incident with this impact in the four years I've been with the Dean of Student's Office."

UW-Madison is providing resources to the campus community. Students interested in crisis support as a result of this, or any other situation, are encouraged to call University Health Services at 608-265-5600. The line is answered 24 hours a day.

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.